Kosovo Security Force begins, draws criticism from Serbia

22/01/2009

Serbian officials have denounced the launch of the new, NATO-backed Kosovo Security Force as "totally unacceptable". The force expects to number 2,500 in the next few years.

By Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 22/01/09

KSF Commander General Sylejman Selimi speaks to the force on Wednesday (January 21st). [AFP]

After almost nine years of service, the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) ended its mission at midnight on Wednesday (January 21st). The KPC immediately gave way to the new Kosovo Security Force (KSF), which will receive NATO training and ammunition.

Officials in Serbia say the new force represents "an illegal paramilitary group" whose creation was "totally unacceptable".

"The [KSF] is a direct threat to national security, peace and stability in the entire region," Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told B92. "Serbia will use all diplomatic means to have this decision undone."

He said Serbian President Boris Tadic will protest to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

A nationwide recruitment campaign to garner 300 additional KSF members started on Wednesday and will last until February 14th. According to its mission, KFOR will provide full support to this process.

"On Wednesday, the competition for the recruitment of KSF for all citizens of the Republic of Kosovo will be opened. KSF will have cantonments in Pristina, Ferizaj, Prizren, Mitrovica, Peja, Gjilan [and] in Skenderaj and Llukar," KFOR stated.

According to the NATO-sponsored KFOR, the KSF will include a substantial number of former KPC members. However, of the current 1,000 members, just 200 to 300 members are former KPC personnel.

The KSF will be a multi-ethnic force representing all of Kosovo's citizens, as well as a force with full international support that will heed Kosovo's Constitution and NATO standards, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Wednesday.

NATO Lieutenant Henrik Kristensson said the KSF is expected to have around 1,500 members by the fall -- and eventually grow to 2,500 members on active duty, with about 800 reservists, in two to five years.

The KSF will include both majority ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs and will fall under the control of parliament.

The force will deploy "in full co-operation with our international friends", KSF Commander General Sylejman Selimi told recruits at a midnight rally. "We're at the beginning of a new phase; this force has become a reality."

The KPC was established on September 21st 1999 through the promulgation of UNMIK Regulation 1999/8 and the drafting of a "Statement of Principles" on the KPC's permitted role in Kosovo. It drew its initial membership largely from the ranks of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The KPC performed emergency and humanitarian services and had no role in defence or law enforcement.