More control required in the north: Military Investment Brings Security to Citizens

Security experts say the situation in the country's north is not stable, so they demand that the number of controls increase in that part. On 9 May, a group of Bosnians were attacked with firearms in Zubin Potok by several persons allegedly from the Serb community.

Nuridin Ibishi, a security expert, has said that there are repeatedly in the north, but that Kosovo Police must always be ready for intervention, and that citizens feel safe.

On the other hand, Ibishi said the Government's decisions on sharing financial means for supporting the Kosovo Security Force would contribute to the country's defence and global security.

And it is thanks to what KSF members have been seeing in 2019 that the KLA transition stages, even now, in KSF, I think they have arrived, but also the transition that took place in 2019, now I see a more accelerated phase, especially when actually the whole development depends on finance, and when this government divides the means, then there is a greater opportunity for Kosovo”.

It's also good in terms of combat equipment, weapons, and equipment, but also infrastructural terms, and this gives hope. Fortunately, we have a minister coming from a state that is a NATO member, and I think he's going to postpone the process before”, Ibishi told EO.

The “in the north should always be expected to occur, are random, but it remains that Kosovo Police with their specialised units will be ready and intervene at any moment, and that the citizens of the north and Kosovo are convinced that we have the capabilities of the Kosovo Police that can carry out the task and maintain order and quiet. It remains in politics now to commit to other issues of harmonisation of development and economics, but also of other aspects”.

He says optimistic that Kosovo will soon gain NATO membership status, which, according to him, would help strengthen partnership with other states.

We have advisory troops, so NATO is within its framework with a large group of international experts beginning to implement the data, these NATO standards and they do their job. But we expect at last this year to begin a partnership for peace, a preliminary phase before membership, which is very significant and we have started well in this process”.

Even former KSF commander Lieutenant General Kadri Kastrati says the security situation in Kosovo is not stable.

The security in the north is not stable, we have to accept a reality and not lie to the citizens because we have very little control, very little intervention because we haven't invested enough. We should sit down with the international factor to become a strategy for how to approach that part and we have to take over there”, he told EO.

The last “case shows that citizens are not sure to move there, pʹe we see that one of the elements in the north is that there is nothing paid, no respect to the state of Kosovo, and 21 years after the war it is unacceptable”.

Furthermore, Kastrati says that the way citizens feel safe and institutions feel complete is investment in weapons.

If we make the army powerful with those devices, and the first weapons by law, then the citizens will be safer, even the institutions will be more complete because they own the entire security and defence device in Kosovo. But I say initially that they will gradually be willing to take over the competencies from the international factor to protect our”, he stressed.

According to him, one of the most important areas is the strengthening of the Army, because it also depends on bringing foreign investments to Kosovo.

One of the safe and important areas that Kosovo will have with the strengthening of the military is bringing foreign investments here to Kosovo, because if they don't see a stable security within Kosovo, even foreign investment will not come to Kosovo, and for that I have always recommended that the Government of Kosovo should have a priority of security and protection. Because without security and protection there is neither security nor health nor education”, he concluded.