Debate has begun in earnest concerning the transformation of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) into the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) before the end of 2008. When we wipe away the jargon of the titles this will essentially mean turning the Kosovo Boy Scouts Club into the Kosovo Army. Currently, the KPC is a relatively small operation with great aspirations. It’s membership is relatively small at just over 5,000 but this will be slashed further for the KSF to a force comprising of 2,500 troops and 800 reserves. The current KPC is somewhere between a militia and an emergency service at the moment, for example only 200 of its members (under 5%) are allowed to carry weapons and most of its operations centre around putting out fires, de-mining and humanitarian aid. The KPC is far from toothless though since it’s membership was brought together between 1999 and 2001 mostly from former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who clearly have good weaponry skills to call upon.

These links to the KLA could provide an obstacle to creating a multi-ethnic KSF. The transformation of the institution was backed by Martti Ahtisaari’s plan which itself placed great emphasis on Kosovo being a country for Albanians, Serbs and other ethnicities too. The KPC, until 2006 was lead by Agim Ceku, a skilled warrior who fought for the Croats and later the Kosovars but is therefore despised by Serbs. Whilst Ceku is no longer in this job his character looms large and influence weighs heavily. For the KSF to be accepted by the Serbs therefore, it will be necessary to promote the organisation more as a new beginning than a continuation of the KLA and the KPC. It is hard, in fact impossible, to imagine any of North Mitrovica’s angry and bitter Serb residents, those who attacked UN forces recently and killed a Ukrainian policeman, signing up to join a re-branded KLA.

To make a break with the past, the KSF must show itself to be a multi-ethnic force for all of Kosovo’s population in appearance and thought. This was quite successfully achieved at a state level with the selection of a flag and coat-of-arms that were blue and yellow in the European tradition rather than calling on any Albanian insignia such as the double-headed eagle. The KPC currently has an emblem which is painfully similar to that which was previously used by the KLA and this will have to change if the Albanians are sincere about the KSF being a state army representative of all citizens.

Thankfully, despite localised cases of abuse of power, there is an overriding desire for the KPC, and later the KSF, to be respectable and functional. The President of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu, said that the KSF “will be established under the NATO standards”. Empty words can pour easily from Balkan lips, but in this instance there is good reason to be optimistic. KFOR, the UN force in Kosovo, will supervise the transformation and given Kosovo’s ultimate aims of European and NATO integration good management is the only option.

Current figures released by the KPC show that progress has been made with regards to welcoming the Serb population into the force, but the more work still needs to be done. The organisation is 93% Albanian in composition and currently only has 58 Serb members who are bunched together mostly in three of the sixteen units. Romany are also under-represented in the force numbering just 4, while on the other hand there are encouraging numbers of Bosnjaks, Turks, Croats and Ashkalia present.

Everybody, whichever side of the fence they stand on regarding the question of independence, knew that Kosovo’s present path was going to be bumpy. Following the declaration of independence it can be argued that it has been no easier nor no harder than expected. On the one hand Kosovo has been accepted as a sovereign state by some of the world’s most powerful countries, such as Germany, France, Britain and the United States. On the other hand, Russia and China are not supporters of the Prishtina government and UN membership seems quite unattainable for the time being. The most important task for all of those in favour of a democratic, multi-ethnic Kosovo for the time being is to remain united. This involves guarding against the partitioning of the country both institutionally and socially. There can be no “autonomous regions” or cantons for different ethnicities as this will only serve to divide and ghettoise the nation. Membership of ethnic minorities, including Serbs, to organisations such as the Parliament and the KPC/KSF must be encouraged to the extent that they should be present in disproportionately high numbers if possible. This would enable a genuine feel of belonging and show that Kosovo is not an Albanian state but rather a state for all people living in Kosovo irrespective of ethnicity.

KPC Official website
SEE Times article
UNMIK Offical website article about KPC
KFOR Official website