Twenty-six years after the war, the presence of NATO troops in Kosovo remains essential for guaranteeing peace and security in the country. Both local Albanian and Serbian residents still want their presence. While they consider the peacekeepers vital, Kosovo’s citizens believe a similar mission could contribute to peace in Ukraine.
Zoran Spasić spends his mornings with the birds he keeps in his yard in Rubofc, Lipjan.
For the 56-year-old Serb, life in this village, 35 kilometers from Kosovo’s capital, is much calmer than it was 26 years ago, when Kosovo had just emerged from war with Serbia – a conflict that left over 13,500 dead.
After the war ended, interethnic tensions between the Albanian majority and the Serbian minority escalated.
These tensions were eased after NATO peacekeeping troops, known as KFOR, arrived in Kosovo.
“KFOR immediately began patrolling the village. Thanks to them, we were able to stay in our homes,” says Zoran for Radio Free Europe.
A peacekeeping contingent was also stationed in Rubofc to help local residents return to their lives and continue agricultural work.
Zoran says that KFOR soldiers would even accompany them when they bought food or worked in the fields.
“During harvests and planting, they would come to the fields with their vehicles, provide us protection, and allowed us to carry out all our tasks with their help,” he says.
In the post-war years, KFOR played a key role in preventing interethnic incidents.
Kosovo established its institutions and declared independence in 2008, making the Kosovo Police primarily responsible for security.
Living with Neighbors
“Are you tired? What are you doing, preparing?” – this is how Zoran greets his Albanian neighbor, Nuredin Zaskoku, who is preparing his tractor to start the spring planting.
Nuredin was eight years old when KFOR troops entered his village in 1999.
Recalling that time, he is happy that NATO sent its troops to Kosovo.
“The KFOR that came was very good, because it was a security for both us and the Serbs, as after the war there could have been some threat from others,” says Zaskoku.
He adds that KFOR helped them with many things to return to normal life.
Return and Disarmament
NATO peacekeeping forces, known as KFOR, were sent to Kosovo on June 12, 1999.
This made it possible for over 800,000 Albanians, who had been forcibly displaced by Serbian forces, to return to their homes, as well as for hundreds of Serbs who fled after Kosovo’s liberation.
Kujtim Gjevori, as he walks over the bridge in Han i Elezit, still vividly remembers the day when KFOR troops arrived by helicopter from North Macedonia.
“It was a moment, a shudder, an emotional tremor that I will never forget in my life,” says Gjevori.
At that time, he was 21 years old and had served as a translator for British KFOR troops.
“You have two minutes to surrender your weapons. If you don’t, we will be forced to take them by force,” was the order from the British general that Gjevori had to translate for the Serbian police.
At that moment, the special unit Gurkat prepared, and the police decided to drop all their weapons on the ground, disarmed, and left Kosovo for Serbia.
Agim Çeku, a former military officer and former Prime Minister of Kosovo, believes KFOR’s presence remains crucial for the country.
According to him, despite the stable security situation, KFOR will remain in Kosovo as long as the threat from Serbia persists.
“KFOR will be here until relations are normalized, until mutual recognition is achieved, until it is assessed that there is no risk of conflict resurgence,” says Çeku.
KFOR’s Challenges in Kosovo
The security situation in Kosovo has improved over the past 25 years. However, Kosovo and Serbia still do not recognize each other and have been engaged in dialogue for the normalization of relations, mediated by the European Union.
Over the years, there have been serious incidents, with KFOR playing a key role in maintaining peace, but it has also been criticized for failing to prevent violence, such as during the 2004 riots. These were fueled by false rumors that three ethnic Albanian children had drowned as a result of actions by Serbs, causing 19 victims, including 11 Albanians and 8 Serbs.
Recently, KFOR has faced violence from local Serbs, as seen in May 2023 in northern Kosovo.
In the early years after the war, KFOR had 50,000 troops, but after continuous security assessments, this number has now decreased to about 4,600 soldiers. The presence of troops in Kosovo has increased whenever the situation has been tense, as it was after the armed attack in Banjska in September 2023.
Currently, the KFOR mission consists of 29 NATO member states.
What Forces Could Be Deployed in Ukraine?
Leaders from more than 30 countries met on March 27 in Paris to discuss ways to strengthen Ukraine’s position both on and off the battlefield. They promised new aid to Kyiv and discussed proposals for the deployment of European forces in Ukraine in the event of any peace agreement.
“There will be a security force that will operate in Ukraine, representing several countries,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
“It is not Russia that can decide whether a security force can be deployed in Ukraine,” he stressed.
He added that, for now, there is no unanimity on sending a European-led force and not all members have agreed to participate, although he emphasized that this is not necessary to move forward.
Speaking one day before the summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Macron said this security force would not be sent to the front line of the war and would not be tasked with overseeing or enforcing any ceasefire.
According to him, such a task could be given to UN peacekeepers.
Lessons from Kosovo…
Kosovo’s quarter-century experience with international peacekeepers is believed to offer valuable insights.
Ivan Vejvoda, a senior fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, says that, first and foremost, any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine should include all parties.
“All actors should be part of this process – naturally, the aggressor, Russia, the country that was invaded, Ukraine, the European Union, the United States, NATO,” Vejvoda says for Radio Free Europe.
“So, there are many parts to this puzzle for a successful peacekeeping mission,” he emphasizes.
“What can be learned is the need to strengthen the foundations of peace and demonstrate political will. But, of course, in just conditions – especially for Ukraine, a sovereign European state that was invaded without reason by its neighbor with nuclear weapons, Russia,” Vejvoda highlights.
He also added that the events of March 2004 in Kosovo made NATO troops “rethink their strategy for maintaining peace and order.”
“KFOR learned an important lesson, and commanders realized that the risks were greater than they thought in 1999,” he adds.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, during a visit to Kosovo on March 11, said that the eventual deployment of European-led peacekeeping forces in Ukraine could affect the review of the presence of troops in the Western Balkans.
Whether or not a consensus is reached to send a peacekeeping military mission to Ukraine, both Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo believe that a peacekeeping force would create the conditions for peace between Ukrainians and Russians.
Zoran says, “Without the presence of peacekeeping troops, it would not have been possible to establish true peace,” just as his neighbor, Nuredin, says, “In every country that has war, a force like KFOR is needed” to stabilize the situation.
