Surlic: Gendarmerie is a new mechanism for intimidating Serbs in northern Kosovo, KFOR’s role increasingly weaker

Stefan Surlic, assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, assessed in a statement to Kosovo Online that the announcement of the formation of a gendarmerie in Kosovo represents an additional mechanism of pressure and intimidation against the Serbian community, especially in northern Kosovo.

Surlic pointed to statements by Kosovo Prime Minister in a technical mandate Albin Kurti that the focus of the gendarmerie would be “on border zones and the fight against terrorism” and recalled that in his previous statements, representatives of the Serbian community had often been labeled as a security threat.

“I think the gendarmerie is another mechanism for intimidating the Serbian community because, if we follow Albin Kurti’s statements, he emphasized that this gendarmerie would focus on border zones and the fight against terrorism. Given that in previous statements he primarily targeted representatives of the Serbian community as terrorists, it is clear to conclude that the concentration of such a formation would be precisely in northern Kosovo,” Surlic said.

He believes this is a “creative solution” through which Pristina is trying to find a model for the presence of military formations in the north.

“For many years now, Kurti has faced the question of when military formations will be able to enter northern Kosovo. I see this as a kind of creative solution, where the gendarmerie would be, as Kurti himself says, something between the army and the police. In that way, it would be presented as a major victory, especially during the election period,” he assessed.

Speaking about the role of KFOR, Surlic said that the influence of international forces is gradually weakening, and he sees responsibility for this in the policies of key NATO member states.

“Their role is becoming smaller and smaller and, unfortunately, the governments of the key NATO member states bear responsibility for that. They have a strategy of gradual withdrawal from Kosovo, while the United States is announcing a complete withdrawal, which in translation would mean taking responsibility and handing it over primarily to Kosovo forces,” Surlic said.

According to him, such announcements are causing concern among Serbs in Kosovo, who see KFOR as the only military force capable of protecting them.

“KFOR will undoubtedly continue to exist, but the obvious reduction of its mandate is a major problem. This issue was neither part of the dialogue nor can it be interpreted as a sign that the forces in Kosovo have built a healthy multiethnic society and that we now have complete coexistence between Serbs and Albanians. We are still in a kind of post-conflict management situation, and that is why the presence of international forces is absolutely necessary,” Surlic concluded.