Lunic: For the mission in Gaza, Kosovo will provide as many soldiers as Washington requests

Kosovo applied for the mission in Gaza in order to confirm its strategic partnership with the United States, as well as to secure international legitimacy. It will provide as many soldiers as Washington requests, geopolitical and security consultant Nikola Lunic told Kosovo Online.

Lunic explains that, unlike the Peace Committee, which now officially has 25 members, participation in international stabilization forces has been confirmed by those who wanted their forces to be internationally visible.

“Unfortunately, no one is applying to be part of that mission for the sake of Gaza itself, that is, for the sake of peace. They are appearing out of geopolitical interest and for their own visibility. Specifically, Kosovo applied in order to confirm its strategic partnership with the United States and to secure international legitimacy,” Lunic says, adding that all of this indicates that the mission in Gaza will not be humanitarian in nature, but geopolitical.

He further points out that the mission carries low risk and relatively low costs, but significant potential political gain.

“The scope of the Kosovo Security Force will be as large as Washington demands. The KSF and Pristina are not in a position to allocate major funds for participation in the mission in Gaza, but they are relying on logistical support from their allies, primarily the United States, and therefore, in pursuit of their goals, they will provide as many soldiers as Washington requests,” he says.

Regarding how members of the Kosovo Security Force will be received by the local population in Gaza, as well as by Israel, Lunic says he is not sure whether Israel will look favorably upon attempts by certain Islamic countries to somehow infiltrate life and coexistence in Gaza.

“In that context, it is possible that Israel will have a certain degree of mistrust. As for the local population, they will almost certainly have more trust in Indonesian forces, which appear set to arrive in robust numbers, than in a few members of the Kosovo Security Force,” Lunic says, adding that the mission in Gaza will also serve the KSF as a solid foundation for future missions with the United States.

“Nevertheless, this is a mission that will carry very low military risk and, as I said, potentially high political benefit. In that regard, it is in some way a favorable mission in which they could participate,” Lunic concludes.