Drecun: Announcement of the formation of a gendarmerie is an attempt to avoid the agreement with NATO that the KSF cannot go to the north

The Chairman of the Serbian Parliament’s Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs, Milovan Drecun, assessed today that Pristina’s announcement regarding the formation of a gendarmerie as a new structure of the Kosovo Security Force is an attempt to complete the full militarization of Kosovo, adding that under the guise of forming that special unit, a classic military formation is being created which, as he stated, should not exist under Resolution 1244.

Drecun said that the announcement of the formation of a gendarmerie is an attempt to bypass the agreement between Pristina and a former NATO Secretary General, which stipulates that without the permission of the KFOR commander, the Kosovo Security Force cannot be deployed along the administrative line and in northern Kosovo.

“It is an attempt to deploy a real army without the approval of the KFOR commander, one that will be presented as some kind of gendarmerie. That is the greatest danger, and that is why Kurti said a few days ago that, when conditions are created, the KSF will appear in northern Kosovo, precisely in order to conceal this attempted deception. The West knows this very well but will accept it,” Drecun told TV Pink.

Drecun said that the international community, that is, Western countries, are not trying to prevent the creation of such a formation because, as he stated, they recognized Kosovo and thereby shelved Resolution 1244.

“They are bothered by the fact that it is still formally in force. They behave as if Kosovo were a state and want to create a strong military formation,” Drecun stated.

He added that the long-term geopolitical plans of the United States should not be overlooked and recalled that last year a plan was adopted for the construction of infrastructure in the Western Balkans, specifically in Albania, Bulgaria, and Kosovo, for US military purposes.

Drecun pointed out that this concerns a corridor linking the Adriatic and Black Seas, and that the United States is “fitting” the creation of a military formation in Kosovo into its plans and treating it as an auxiliary force for their implementation.

“They certainly have in mind the possibility of conflict with our security forces. And when you look, for example, at the equipping of our army, you can see countermeasures that correspond to the equipping of the so-called Kosovo Security Force, you see that they are keeping pace. As we advance in raising our defense capacities, they respond to that, and it will continue,” Drecun believes.

He stressed that Serbia cannot stop the formation of those armed formations.

“We are trying, by invoking Resolution 1244, but KFOR is not reacting even though it is obliged to prevent all of this. That process is irreversible and they will continue strengthening those formations. We must continue supporting our people as much as we can, and continue insisting on dialogue, although Pristina rejects it,” Drecun said.

Referring to Albin Kurti’s statements that one billion euros would be invested in the Kosovo army, Drecun said that the Kosovo Security Force has entered the third and final phase of transformation, which should be completed by 2028, and that an accelerated pace of equipping, arming, training, and unit formation can be observed.

He stated that Pristina has significant support in that regard from certain Western countries, primarily the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Germany, and some neighboring countries such as Croatia.

Drecun recalled that in previous election campaigns Kurti had also promised annual investments of around 250 million euros, adding that Pristina also receives donations.

“Recently, Turkey donated four million, there are donations from the United States and other countries. There is a combination of purchases and donations. When they bought the Bayraktars, they paid for the aircraft and equipment, but the training, spare parts, and maintenance were covered by Turkey,” Drecun stated.