On March 4, 2014, the Kosovar government in Pristina declared officially that the
time had come for Kosovo to create its own armed forces, an announcement that
has been received very differently across different parts of the world. Having
officially declared independence in 2008, the newly formed armed forces will be
made up of 5,000 active duty soldiers with another 3,000 in reserve.
Subsequently, it will take the place of the currently existing Kosovar Security
Force, a civil defense force tasked with maintaining peace and responding in
the events of disaster (a national guard of sorts).
As one might imagine, no where else in the world has this announcement been
scrutinized so heavily as in Serbia. In light of the recent negotiations
between Serbia and its former province regarding a mutual march towards EU
membership, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic denounced Kosovo's decision to
the EU and the world, stating that such an action was in violation of the
Brussels agreement: that no organized Kosovar armed forces would enter the
northern portion of Kosovo in which over 100,000 ethnic Serbs reside.
This newly formed army will have to live side by side and coexist with the
5,000 members of the NATO task force that have been present in Kosovo since the
bombing campaign of Belgrade in 1999. Nevertheless, this is a surefire step
towards undeniable recognition and statehood in the international system. The
IR paradigm of political science stipulates the forming and maintaining of a
standing national army to be a landmark of a formally recognized state and,
barring interference from those outside of Kosovo, such an army will soon be a
reality for this young state.
time had come for Kosovo to create its own armed forces, an announcement that
has been received very differently across different parts of the world. Having
officially declared independence in 2008, the newly formed armed forces will be
made up of 5,000 active duty soldiers with another 3,000 in reserve.
Subsequently, it will take the place of the currently existing Kosovar Security
Force, a civil defense force tasked with maintaining peace and responding in
the events of disaster (a national guard of sorts).
As one might imagine, no where else in the world has this announcement been
scrutinized so heavily as in Serbia. In light of the recent negotiations
between Serbia and its former province regarding a mutual march towards EU
membership, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic denounced Kosovo's decision to
the EU and the world, stating that such an action was in violation of the
Brussels agreement: that no organized Kosovar armed forces would enter the
northern portion of Kosovo in which over 100,000 ethnic Serbs reside.
This newly formed army will have to live side by side and coexist with the
5,000 members of the NATO task force that have been present in Kosovo since the
bombing campaign of Belgrade in 1999. Nevertheless, this is a surefire step
towards undeniable recognition and statehood in the international system. The
IR paradigm of political science stipulates the forming and maintaining of a
standing national army to be a landmark of a formally recognized state and,
barring interference from those outside of Kosovo, such an army will soon be a
reality for this young state.