German press writes about Kosovo being armed

Serbia has been arming itself for years. Now Kosovo wants to follow the same example. News that the United States will sell Kosovo antitank weapons Yavelin has published the biggest German newspapers, as is “Frankfurter Algemen Zeitung”.

The planned sale of American antitank weapons for Kosovo angers the Serbian government, writes a German newspaper. The news about this is “a major disappointment”, Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq said after a meeting with US Ambassador Christopher Hill in Belgrade. On Thursday (January 11th), Hill officially announced that the request from Kosovo approved by the White House has been forwarded to Congress.

According to information from Pristina and Washington, Kosovo wants, among other things, to buy about 250 antitank Yavelin weapons for the Kosovo Security Forces. As the German newspaper reports, that package also includes the “delivery of instructors for the use and maintenance of those weapons that have proved effective against Russian tanks and other armoured vehicles in Ukraine”. From Pristina, they say the arms agreement has already been reached and that implementation is only formalisation. They do not expect resistance from Congress”.

According to the US statement, the subx0> sale is in the interest of the United States, as it would strengthen the country's defence capacity as a European partner. The sale will enable Kosovo to maintain its territorial integrity”.

Uncertainty for future American politics

The Frankfurt newspaper writes that the overwhelming majority of the population in Kosovo has been pro-NATO membership for years. At the same time, it is commemorated that Kosovo's citizenship is not recognised by all Alliance members, including Spain and Romania. Serbia, which does not recognise Kosovo's secession and which officially continues to view that country as its temporary breakaway province, hopes to be able to rule forever under its control at least the Serb-run north of Kosovo”.

At the same time, according to Frankfurter Algemaine, “in the Western Balkans, especially in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is uncertainty about the future American policy in the region, and not only because of Donald Trump's possible victory in the US presidential election”. That is also because Serbia has massively improved its armed forces since Vuciq took power in Belgrade. Armatta was accompanied by massive retoric revansite in pro-government media”.

Kosovo doubled defence budget

In response, the “neighbours are now also strengthening their military capabilities. Kosovo, one of the most economically weaker countries in Europe, plans to spend more than 200m euros on defence this year. (...) Recently, that country bought, among other things, fears Bajraktar from Turkey. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti boasts that he has doubled the defence budget in the first two years of his” mandate.

On the other hand, the text concludes, “Vucciq recently stressed that the Serbian Army is one of the strongest in the Balkans. He noted the large number of tanks his country received from Russia prior to the Russian attack on Ukraine, and has warned that Belgrade will continue to buy weapons, especially from China, and especially fighter planes, fears and antiaircraft systems. The return of mandatory military service, which was removed in 2011”, writes Frankfurter Legendine Zeitung, according to a summary Deutsche Welle.