Situation in the north, experts call for NATO membership

The war in Ukraine and threats by the Serbian state in the north have made Kosovo's NATO membership take place more seriously both by local institutions and by other countries.

Security experts are praising that with the tense situation in the region as a cause of war in Ukraine, Kosovo has provided greater support both from the US and the EU for membership.

Nuredin Ibishi, a security connoisseur in Kosovo, said that with threats being made to the country, the issue of NATO membership is in focus.

The importance of NATO membership is how much time it is in actuality, and in particular it has taken on importance from the beginning of the war in Ukraine and the dangers and threats that are coming to the region, whether by Russian leaders, but voices supported by Albanian and Serbian leaders, but also by the extremist Serbs from Montenegro, Macedonia, and some countries around which are making the situation very tense. Even with specific threats to the security of states that are not members of NATO”, he said.

Ibishi added that the challenge for Kosovo's membership in NATO remains the non-recognition of the four member states of this organisation.

“Kosovo still remains with the demands of the entire Albanian leader, from the president, prime minister, the defence minister has urged that we enter the Partnership for Peace phase, as in 2018 the transformation was made by the KSF's civilian mission into military missions, and real opportunities are for that to take place. Partnership for Peace is a transitative phase of accession that is the action plan for accession, the possibility that I am part of the Adriatic Charter as part of a form of our membership”.

“The other challenge is the failure to accept four NATO member states, they have only sent positive voices that could be overcome because of the dances and risks coming from those Russian and their allies in the Balkans. I think there is a heavy first support from the United States, but also the European Union countries, especially now in the tense security situation created by the war in Ukraine”.

The security acquaintance, Bedri Elezi, said that with the war in Ukraine it has clearly been shown that the Balkans could be a hearth “fire”, especially Kosovo, which is in the centre of the Balkans.

That, according to him, could cause destabilisation throughout Europe, and for that reason, Kosovo's NATO membership is very important.

“Of course, the recent developments in the world, especially the war in Ukraine, have clearly shown us that the Balkans is a hotbed of fire and potentially Kosovo as a place in the center of the Balkans, and that not only the recent developments in Europe, so that the recent developments have to let us understand that NATO also belong to other geostrategic countries such as Kosovo, and that I remember the need for Kosovo to be a part of this security family as soon as possible, and I believe that this case or momentum should be exploited by our institutions to exercise a real partnership with individual security factors and the most accelerated military structure in Kosovo.

Elez said the KSF is prepared for NATO membership after it has been trained in the member states of this alliance.

According to him, the military must work harder in the vetting department, because NATO has top-secret information and there is the danger of them getting out, EO reports.

“We have had luck that many trainings of KSF have been done in NATO member states. The KSF has a capacity which can move very quickly towards criteria or say the performance that other NATO member states have”.

A key issue is the issue of strengthening the verification department because if Kosovo becomes a member of NATO, there will certainly be access to sensitive NATO information and the risk of such information coming out is huge, and NATO wants to have a stable structure that preserves top-secret levels information, there is very little work, and there is suspicion that there is a lot of crying and the possibility of providing sensitive information from FSK members”.