Mazreku: Military cooperation agreements serve to balance power in the region

Professor of European Law from Pristina, Avni Mazreku, stated for Kosovo Online that the cooperation agreements Kosovo signs, as well as its investments in the military sector, including the initiative to conclude a Framework Agreement on Defense Cooperation with the US, serve the purpose of balancing military power in the region and achieving equilibrium in relations with Serbia, which arms itself.

“A guaranteed peace in the region can be seen in only two ways: first – through the total disarmament of the Western Balkans, for which no country in the region has political will; and second – through arms control, specifically by purchasing weapons within the NATO framework. The prospect of Western Balkan countries joining NATO is essentially unclear, given the role of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which prevents Bosnia’s NATO membership, and the fact that Serbia has declared its neutral stance on NATO membership,” Mazreku emphasized.

He points out that Serbia has invested more than a billion euros in its military bases and continues to purchase highly sophisticated weaponry from China, Russia, and other military suppliers. According to him, Serbia’s defense industry is considered one of the most advanced in the Western Balkans, which contributes to regional instability.

“We have one very strong military power, while the other – Kosovo, in this case, cannot compare to Serbia’s military capabilities. Since, according to Serbia’s Constitution, Kosovo is still considered an integral part of Serbia, and Serbia has not shown interest or political will to change its constitutional framework, the positioning of the Serbian Army near Kosovo’s independent territory in recent years (2023 and 2024) puts Kosovo in a situation where it must maintain balance against potential threats. And in this case, the military threat to Kosovo comes from Serbia. Other regional factors, such as North Macedonia (a NATO member), Albania, and Montenegro, do not pose any danger to Kosovo. From a military perspective, the only threat to Kosovo is the state of Serbia,” Mazreku concluded.