Kosovo approves troop contribution for Gaza force
FILE -Kosovo Security Forces parade during celebrations to mark the 18th anniversary of independencein PristinaKosovoFeb. 172026. (AP Photo/Laura HasaniFile)
PRISTINAKosovo (AP) — Small Balkan nation Kosovo says it wants to commit dozens of its security troops to an international force for Gaza because it appreciates what NATO-led peacekeepers have done for its own security since its 1998-99 conflict with Serbia.
Kosovo’s Parliament on Friday overwhelmingly approved in a 89-0 vote an earlier government decision to send the troops to the International Stabilization Force under a U.S.-backed initiative following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas last year.
The ISF is yet to deploy to help maintain peace and assist in rebuilding Gaza under U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peacewhich Kosovo has joined. IndonesiaAlbania and Kazakhstan are among other countries that have promised to participate in ISF.
In Kosovocontributing to the international force is seen as proof of how far the country has come after declaring independence from Serbia in 2008a split which Belgrade still does not recognize.
Belgrade’s brutal crackdown on Kosovo’s separatist rebels prompted a NATO intervention in 1999 that forced the Serb troops out of the territory and paved the way for the peacekeepers’ deployment under a KFOR mission.
“Our country has been a security consumermeaning NATO countries have contributed to the security of the Republic of Kosovo,” Defense Minister Ejup Maqedonci told The Associated Press. “Today we are entering a phase where we are becoming a provideror exporterof security.”
Maqedonci said the Kosovo contingent will consist of several dozen officersincluding from demining units. The troops will be tasked with providing humanitarian supportsecurity assistance and other duties determined by the mandate of the Gaza forceMaqedonci added.
“We are currently in the final preparations phase,” Maqedonci said. He said a U.S. representative has helped with the preparationincluding vaccination of troopsissuing of visas and other technical arrangements.
Kosovo currently has a security force of some 4,000 personnel that is being trained to become a smallprofessional military aligned with NATO.
Musician Milot Hoxha43hailed the plan to participate in the Gaza mission.
“We ourselves have gone through such a transition and every small help for us has been very significant,” he said. “I believe it will be the same for themthat any kind of help will be positive. I strongly support this decision.”
Tensions with Serbia have been simmering ever since the warwith occasional violent incidents. The European Union has mediated negotiations aimed at normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina but these efforts have stalled recently.
The United States and most EU countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent statewhile Russia and China have backed Serbia’s claim on the territory.