Kosovo’s government proposed on Thursday making a 5,000-strong army to “protect sovereignty” of the ethnic Albanian territory, six years after it seceded from Serbia.
The army would double the scale of the present civil emergency Kosovo security force (KPS), said an announcement issued after a cupboard session.
Since the top of 1998-1999 war between independent-seeking ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Belgrade forces under the command of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, NATO was in control of maintaining peace and security in Kosovo.
The lightly-armed KPS, created with NATO assistance in 2009, is tasked with going through emergency response and protection of public and civil order.
However, this proposal, which might require a metamorphosis to Kosovo’s constitution, would push the KPS into new areas of operation.
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said the “armed forces of Kosovo will protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, citizens, property and interests” of Kosovo, an announcement said.
The future army can even have 3,000 reservists, with a yearly budget of 65 million euros ($89.5 million).
The forces are expected to be fully operational after 2019, it added.
In Belgrade, Serbia’s Minister answerable for Kosovo Aleksandar Vulin said his government would demand an emergency UN security Council session to debate Pristina’s move.
“This is unacceptable and entirely against UN resolution 1244 which clearly states that there could be no army on Kosovo’s territory,” Vulin told reporters.
That resolution, adopted in 1999, put Kosovo under UN administration and establish NATO-led peacekeepers (KFOR) to preserve peace within the former Serbian province.
Since Pristina declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, Kosovo was recognized by greater than 100 countries, including the us and all but five European Union members.
Although Serbia still doesn’t recognise its independence, Belgrade and Pristina have reached an accord on improving relations under the european mediation last April.
But Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said a potential creation of Kosovo army was “not in accordance” with the agreement.
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