Kosovo’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, has provided the first detailed operational blueprint for the country’s newly proposed security mechanism: a dedicated national Gendarmerie (Xhandarmëria).
Following the government’s initial announcement of the initiative, Sveçla confirmed that a specialized working group has officially been established. This team is tasked with analyzing and proposing the exact legal, financial, and operational modalities required to build the force from the ground up.
The Strategic Mandate of the Gendarmerie
The creation of the Gendarmerie is designed to address highly specific, high-intensity security vulnerabilities that sit between regular policing and military defense. According to Minister Sveçla, the new force will focus primarily on:
- Border Fortification: Strongly securing the Republic’s border lines against unauthorized crossings, smuggling, and cross-border crime.
- Sovereignty Protection: Defending Kosovo’s territorial integrity and state sovereignty in high-risk zones.
- Rapid Tactical Response: Providing immediate, highly trained containment and neutralization of high-level security threats and asymmetric incursions.
[Structural Realignment of Kosovo Internal Security]
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Ministry of Internal Affairs │
└───────────────┬────────────────────────┬───────────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌────────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────┐
│ Kosovo Police │ │ Kosovo Gendarmerie │
│ (Order, Crime, Traffic)│ │(Border, High-Risk, SAM)│
└────────────────────────┘ └────────────────────────┘
Structural Framework and Special Legislation
The working group is currently designing the Gendarmerie to operate as an independent executive agency functioning under the direct umbrella of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
To ensure clear constitutional boundaries and distinct operational authority, the force will not be created via executive decree; instead, it will be established through a dedicated, standalone law passed by parliament.
This structural split is intentionally designed to optimize domestic law enforcement resources. By shifting high-intensity border security and tactical defense responsibilities to the Gendarmerie, the Kosovo Police will be freed up to focus entirely on its core civic mandates:
- Maintaining daily public order and safety.
- Preventing, investigating, and prosecuting domestic crime.
- Managing traffic safety and standard policing duties.
Recruitment and Alignment with NATO Frameworks
A key responsibility of the newly formed working group is to map out the recruitment pipeline and training curriculum for the future Gendarmerie personnel.
Sveçla emphasized that Kosovo is not inventing a new model, but is actively studying and adapting successful international frameworks. The working group is heavily focusing its research on the operational doctrines of NATO member states that utilize similar military-grade policing forces (such as France’s Gendarmerie Nationale or Italy’s Carabinieri) to ensure complete interoperability with Euro-Atlantic security structures.
