NATO leaders will gather today in Washington of the United States (USA) for a historic summit, but while the attention will be focused mainly on Ukraine, observers’ expectations are that the allies will also reaffirm their commitment to Kosovo’s security, especially in the light of the new geopolitical realities after the unprovoked Russian aggression.
Former NATO wartime spokesman in Kosovo, Jamie Shea, given the current security challenges, especially after last year’s developments that proved peace in the Western Balkans is still fragile, believes that NATO allies- s will remember the humanitarian intervention of 1999 that brought the freedom of Kosovo, precisely on NATO’s 50th birthday.
The 1999 war ended after the capitulation of the Serbian army, but not the capitulation of the ideologies that led to the war. Today, security in Kosovo is overseen by the NATO Force (KFOR). But, despite NATO’s military presence, last September there was an armed attack in Banjska, in the northern part of Kosovo, which raised serious concerns for regional stability.
“I expect the summit to recall the 1999 intervention as part of reaffirming NATO’s commitment to peace and stability in the Western Balkans. I also expect the allies to say that KFOR will stay in Kosovo as long as necessary and to reiterate their determination to prevent and fight attempts to destabilize Kosovo”.
Alon Ben-Meir, a professor and expert on US policy in the region, also believes that at the NATO Summit, the main focus will be on addressing security challenges, including strengthening deterrence and defense capabilities, increasing forces in countries various, increasing partnerships and strengthening NATO’s collective defense.
“Although the main issues on the agenda are the war in Ukraine and strategic defense, the situation in Kosovo is also part of NATO’s ongoing engagements, although it is not on the agenda of the summit, but it can be addressed during the discussions. The message for Russia, including Serbia, is that NATO will remain ready to fulfill the commitments for the security of Kosovo”.
Ben-Meir adds, among other things, that general discussions about Kosovo are expected to focus characteristically around these peace support operations, the strengthening of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF), which, he points out, have wider implications for regional security and NATO’s strategic interests in the Western Balkans.
Also, because the Kosovo-Serbia tensions have become part of a major problem of instability in the Western Balkans, given that under the shadow of major conflicts, frozen conflicts can erupt, especially in a region surrounded by ethnic enmities, the allies will call on the leaders in Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations between them.
Shea estimates that NATO leaders will call on Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue facilitated by the European Union (EU) and implement existing agreements, including last year’s basic agreement. In this context, Shea argues, the small Balkan country should join NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.
“I have long sought an improvement in relations between NATO and Kosovo – PfP membership and access to the full menu of cooperation activities, including the right to consult the Atlantic Council in crisis situations. But I have no indication that the allies agree to undertake this step or whether the summit will come up with new initiatives regarding the situation in Kosovo”.
After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the authorities in Kosovo have sought accelerated membership in NATO, starting with the PfP program, which was established in 1994. However, since within NATO there are five non-recognizing states – Spain , Greece, Slovakia and Romania – the fulfillment of Kosovo’s “transatlantic dream” still remains far away.
Otherwise, while the war in Ukraine continues, insecurity will be a permanent reality, while efforts for national security will be a constant preoccupation of Kosovo.
The reception of NATO’s jubilee summit in Washington has symbolic weight for Kosovo – if in 1999 NATO’s birthday brought Kosovo’s freedom, the 75th birthday challenges the security of the Western Balkans from Serbian revisionism.
