Milivojevic: KFOR to influence Pristina in order to de-escalate - Kosovo Online
4–5 minutes
Former diplomat Zoran Milivojevic assessed that KFOR would have to immediately react and influence Pristina, both politically and in terms of security, in order to de-escalate the situation in Kosovo, because, as he stated, it was completely clear that peace and stability were at risk, RTV reports.
Milivojevic, on the occasion of yesterday's visit to Brussels by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the Alliance take control and ensure a decent life for the Serbs in Kosovo, said that KFOR did not need an additional decision from the Security Council or any other UN body for its decision to act in terms of Resolution 1244, because it was completely clear that peace and stability were threatened on the ground.
"The conversation was very important because NATO practically in the name and at the expense of the UN as a part of KFOR performs the function of ensuring peace and stability in the area of Kosovo and Metohija, and in accordance with resolution 1244. Therefore, it is the right address to speak to, bearing in mind that the situation in Kosovo and Metohija has escalated and represents a direct threat to peace and stability in those areas. Therefore, the conversation with NATO is both justified and at the right time," Milivojevic said.
He added that KFOR was expected to fulfill its mandate and its function in the full sense and to ensure peace and stability.
"We will see whether there will be de-escalation, and how NATO will behave. I think that it primarily depends on political will, bearing in mind that NATO member states have mostly recognized the independence of Kosovo and that so far they have not shown the political will to react decisively towards Pristina," Milivojevic said.
He assessed that Pristina was the cause of the escalation and that NATO should be expected to take measures that would prevent it from carrying out repression, using police forces, and questioning peace and stability in the north of Kosovo.
"We will see what the reaction will be, but my opinion is that, above all, it depends on the political will in the centers in Washington and Brussels," Milivojevic said.
As he explained, KFOR represented a military force, which according to chapter seven of the UN Charter had a mandate to prevent threats to peace and stability, and had both political and military measures of action and the ability to act in order to de-escalate.
"They can do that by using force. By removing the ROSU Special Forces and Police Forces that act contrary to Resolution 1244 and contrary to the mandate of KFOR in the north of Kosovo and Metohija. They also have a strong enough force, which they recently reinforced with 700 Turkish soldiers, and they can increase that force to the limits necessary for action on the ground," Milivojevic reminded.
He added that KFOR had the ability to politically act on Pristina and prevent the Kosovo government from implementing escalation measures.
"They completely control the government in Pristina in the military and security sense, but also in the political sense. It's just a question of political will and a question of political decision, first of all, in Washington and the top of NATO," Milivojevic said.
He also warned against the statements of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, that the Kosovo Police Forces were a continuation of the KLA.
"The KLA is a structure that, according to Resolution 1244, is clearly marked as an organization that must disappear from the field and that must not operate on the field," Milivojevic pointed out and emphasized that KFOR had the mandate to act in this sense as well.
