Savkovic: The arming of Kosovo is part of Turkey's "soft power" strategy in the Western Balkans

Marko Savkovic, a senior advisor at the ISAC Fund, says that Turkey has a well-developed "soft power" presence in the Western Balkans, and the increasing cooperation and open arming of Kosovo is a result of a policy that has been in place for the past 15 years.

"This is a continuation of relations that have been developing for 15 years. Turkey was among the first countries to recognize Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence. Turkey supports the development of defense capacities by providing and selling various armored vehicles for the needs of the armed forces, and now even more sophisticated systems like the 'Bayraktar,'" Savkovic told Kosovo Online.

He emphasizes that Turkey has two key interests in the Western Balkans.

The first, he points out, is for the entire region to join NATO.

"For a long time, Turkey has proclaimed its interest in Euro-Atlantic integration, with the goal of bringing the entire Western Balkans into NATO. NATO is essentially the framework for Turkey, as we know that it doesn't have much prospect of becoming an EU member anytime soon," Savkovic said.

The second key interest is to establish its influence in the region through strengthening economic, educational, cultural, and historical ties.

"Turkey always emphasizes peace, stability, good interstate and interethnic relations. It often refers to its heritage, which is an important factor of identification. Turkey has a very well-developed soft power in the Western Balkans, a power of attraction, thanks in part to its educational system, which many young people attend. Additionally, it has a highly developed economy and a rich historical heritage. Turkey smartly supports the restoration of various cultural heritages. Lastly, through its economic presence, specifically in Pristina, Turkey is the seventh-largest economic partner, employing around 10,000 people living in Kosovo," Savkovic highlighted.

According to him, the recent $1 million donation for expanding the "capacities" of the Kosovo Security Force was surprising only in the sense that Ankara aims to maintain equally good relations with both Pristina and Belgrade.

"Considering the rather good relations between Ankara and Belgrade, one might say this seems like a potential issue for Belgrade. However, I believe Ankara will continue to take care to maintain good relations with Belgrade as much as possible," Savkovic noted.

He added that in the procurement of military equipment and arms, it’s important not to forget that, as in the case of the "Bayraktar," this involves a private company within Turkey's defense industry, driven by profit. By acquiring these systems, Kosovo sent a message that it is following the trends of "modern warfare."

"This is a platform, speaking of the 'Bayraktar,' that is exported to many countries around the world. It is considered one of the best in the world at the moment – so good that even Serbia considered acquiring it, I don't know if it is still considering. The trend is that all armed forces that can afford it are looking to acquire platforms, drones that they can deploy. One of the key lessons from the war in Ukraine is the importance of such platforms and how they have transformed modern warfare," Savkovic explained.

However, he doesn’t believe that arming Kosovo or Turkey's growing influence in the Western Balkans would necessarily lead to additional tensions in the region.

"I don’t necessarily think so. It is simply a complex mix of relations, if you will, where you have a lot of cooperation, competition, and opposing views on certain issues, but I don’t see it as a conflict or a future source of conflict," Savkovic concluded.