Šutanovac: KSF in peacekeeping missions

Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) will participate in peacekeeping missions in cooperation with international organizations, says Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac. Speaking to B92, Sutanovac assessed that this cooperation meant that Kosovo was prepared to take a serious role in international politics. Sutanovac: KSF in peacekeeping missions The Defense Ministry is following and analyzing the development and work of the KSF, he said. Besides the fact that the KSF could represent the nucleus of a bigger force, the minister warned of yet another problem Serbia would face with the formation of the KSF. “I now see some new responsibilities which have been defined: those forces would take action if the police cannot, and I noticed something else that worries me—those forces would go into peacekeeping operations, which means that Kosovo is prepared to take a serious role in international politics, which could be a problem for us, considering that we still aren’t doing that in the proper manner,” he said. When information came to light six months ago that KFOR would help in the formation of the KSF, Serbia suspended relations between its own High Command and the KFOR commander, though it continued to cooperate on a technical level, since, according to the minister, KFOR is a factor in Kosovo’s stability. Speaking about the dispute with former Army Chief-of-Staff Zdravko Ponos, Sutanovac said that it was not possible to have a ministry in which two different philosophies existed. “I raise the question of what would happen in Serbia if the general said that civil control was not a sacred cow and behaved and acted in that way, or if, let’s say, [former chiefs-of-staff Nebojsa and Dragoljub] Pavkovic or Ojdanic, or whoever else before him, had done the same. I’m sure that absolutely everyone would oppose him. That is the basis of our dispute, which was internal, but, unfortunately, has entered the public eye and caused what it did,” he said. The minister said that he had had the support of the army in the quarrel with Ponos. “If the generals had called me and told me that I wasn’t doing my job properly, I would’ve thanked them and certainly would not be minister,” he concluded. Dragan Sutanovac (FoNet, archive)

Šutanovac: KSF in peacekeeping missions

The Defense Ministry is following and analyzing the development and work of the KSF, he said.

Besides the fact that the KSF could represent the nucleus of a bigger force, the minister warned of yet another problem Serbia would face with the formation of the KSF.

“I now see some new responsibilities which have been defined: those forces would take action if the police cannot, and I noticed something else that worries me—those forces would go into peacekeeping operations, which means that Kosovo is prepared to take a serious role in international politics, which could be a problem for us, considering that we still aren’t doing that in the proper manner,” he said.

When information came to light six months ago that KFOR would help in the formation of the KSF, Serbia suspended relations between its own High Command and the KFOR commander, though it continued to cooperate on a technical level, since, according to the minister, KFOR is a factor in Kosovo’s stability.

Speaking about the dispute with former Army Chief-of-Staff Zdravko Ponoš, Šutanovac said that it was not possible to have a ministry in which two different philosophies existed.

“I raise the question of what would happen in Serbia if the general said that civil control was not a sacred cow and behaved and acted in that way, or if, let’s say, [former chiefs-of-staff Nebojša and Dragoljub] Pavković or Ojdanić, or whoever else before him, had done the same. I’m sure that absolutely everyone would oppose him. That is the basis of our dispute, which was internal, but, unfortunately, has entered the public eye and caused what it did,” he said.

The minister said that he had had the support of the army in the quarrel with Ponoš. “If the generals had called me and told me that I wasn’t doing my job properly, I would’ve thanked them and certainly would not be minister,” he concluded.