Serbian parliament official says Pristina wants fully operational military

NEWS 11.06.202114:06
N1/arhiva

The head of the Serbian Parliament Kosovo Committee said on Friday that the authorities in Pristina want a fully operational military by the year 2029.

Speaking after a closed door session of the Committee, Chairman Milovan Drecun MP said that it discussed a report from the Serbian security services about the transformation of civil protection structures into a military in Kosovo. “Pristina’s plan is to equip an army by 2027 and make it full operational by 2029. That transformation is being helped mainly by the US, Germany and Turkey,” he told the Serbian state TV (RTS).

He said that the number of KFOR troops has been reduced from 12,000 in 2010 to the current 3,000 with plans to reduce the number fo 2,500. “The Kosovo Security Forces now have 3,517 active personnel, 10 percent of who are minorities, unfortunately, with some Serbs. What is worrying is that a headquarters staff and four commands were formed in 2019 which is the structure of a real military,” he said and added that helicopter pilots were trained in Turkey and a number of officers were trained abroad.

According to Drecun, the Kosovo authorities want to introduce conscription which would include Serbs. “No military formation other than KFOR is allowed to be deployed in Kosovo and they are reinforcing special forces, setting up a new base in Djakovica and pressuring Serbs to join the security forces,” Drecun said.