6 minutes ago“The NATO chief's visa as reconfirming for the presence of European forces in Kosovo”
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Mark Rutte, is expected to use his visit to Pristina on 11 March to provide guarantees that the European contingent within the alliance's mission to Kosovo, KFOR will remain there, despite any American military movement. So says Ivan Vejvoda, researcher at the Institute [...]
So says Ivan Vejvoda, researcher at the Institute for Human Science in Vienna, under which Mark Ruttes' visit to Kosovo is now very important, given the geopolitical situation, the new American administration, the continuation of Russia's war in Ukraine, and the “thes based or not that the United States is reconsidering its position in NATO”.
Add here also the <x0.0 fact that, as Americans say, still has unprecedented work in the Balkans”, says Vejvoda in a conversation with Free Europe Radio.
The question of US position review in Europe has begun to circulate from statements US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth made in February, when he said Europeans cannot expect the American military presence on the continent to last forever while urging Europeans to increase their defence expenses.
Even American President Donald Trump has called for Europeans to pay more in this sector, raising dilemmas if they are now able to protect the US, as NATO's Article 5 requires.
The US has about 100,000 troops in Europe, while 600 are deployed in Kosovo, within KFOR, totaling about 4,600 members.
The U.S. Department of Defense told Radio Free Europe days ago that there is no planned change for the deployment of their forces at present.
Even Vejvoda does not believe American troops can leave Kosovo, at least in the next six months. He thinks KFOR would function steadily even without the American presence.
The boss himself NATO, Rutte, has said days before that stability in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia is in everyone's interest in the Western military coalition, and that he sees no reason to believe there could be any dramatic change in terms of American commitment to NATO.
Mission NATO in Kosovo
KFOR has landed in Kosovo in June 1999, under NATO command. His mission is to ensure security, freedom of movement and support the development of a stable, democratic and multiethnic Kosovo.
KFOR operates under Security Council Resolution 1244 of the United Nations, through which the international military presence in Kosovo has been authorised, following the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo.
At first, NATO had about 50,000 troops, while now has about 4,600 of the 27 contributing nations.
KFOR has increased its presence in Kosovo in 2023, following increasing tensions in the country's north.
Rutte's visit to Kosovo takes place after what he did in Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 10th, where he delivered the message that the alliance will not allow the “to endanger the peace gained with much difficulty”.
We are not in 1992 and we will not allow the creation of any security vacuum. I know that EUFOR [the European Union Force] is fully prepared to ensure the stable security environment”, Rutte has said, referring to the period of war outbreak in this state.
He has also stated that NATO fully supports Bosnia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that the Dayton Agreement has ended fighting in 1995. It is the foundation to be respected.
On March 7, EUFOR has indicated that it will temporarily increase the number of members it has, as a precautionary measure, following increasing tensions in this state.
The EU force has about 1,000 members in this state and has replaced the NATO mission, SFOR, since 2004.
The Need for Co-ordination With Allies
Kosovo is aimed at NATO membership, and its leaders constantly call for speeding up the country's steps to the alliance.
As the road to membership may potentially be long for the fact that some member states do not recognise Kosovo's citizenship, Vejvoda cites the importance of co-operation with allies, and calls on Balkan countries, in particular Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to be obedient.
We remember the words of former US Assistant Secretary of State Jim O'Brien, who said he didn't cooperate with the Allies, he wouldn't move forward. That warning is still valid, that if Kosovo wants to have intensified relations with the US and with the new administration, it should listen carefully, just as the entire region” says.
He also recalls the former head of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, who was told he made warnings in Pristina, Belgrade and Sarajevo, that the leaders of these countries do not escalate the situation.
The message may not have been to make unilateral decisions, and if decisions should be made in these countries, they should be co-ordinating with Allies”, Vejvoda says.
Although KFOR is the third guarantor of security in Kosovo, its presence is considered vital, especially in the northern part of the country where it patrols the border line with Serbia.
Former commander of the Kosovo Security Force (FSK), Kadri Kastrati, has told Radio Free Europe days before the country, currently, is not able to defend itself, though The KSF is in the process of converting the regular army, and has recently increased defence spending.
The budget for the Ministry of Defence in Kosovo will be 207.8m euros in 2025, or 54m euros more than the previous year.
