Thursday June 12, 2025 07:42 pm

Kosovo is Keen to Enhance the Defense and Economy

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🕐 2023-05-13 14:08:05

Kosovo is Keen to Enhance the Defense and Economy

Rabb Majumder


Bangladesh maintains defense ties with a number of nations worldwide, including both conventional and unconventional allies. Bangladesh's principal defense allies include: India, China, Russia, United States, Turkey.
In addition to these significant defense allies, Bangladesh also keeps close defense connections with a number of other nations, such as Pakistan, Japan, South Korea, and Germany. Bangladesh also takes part in a number of global defense projects and organizations, such as UN peacekeeping operations.
Armend Mehaj, the visiting Kosovo defense minister, spoke exclusively with The Security World about a range of topics, including the controversial Rohingya in Bangladesh, security, defense ties, the economy, and the composition and objectives of Kosovo's security forces.
A genuine patriot, human being and fan of Adam Demaci, often known as Kosovo's Nelson Mandela. He was a human rights activist who led a nonviolent uprising against the Yugoslav government in Kosovo. 
Adam Demaci spent longer time behind bars than the African leader Nelson Mandela, having served 28 years and 6 months. 
According to the Defense Minister Armend Mehaj, when he was six years old, his family immigrated to Norway due to the persecution of his family by the Serbian regime. There, he completed his primary, secondary, and further education. After finishing his coursework at the Norwegian Army's Military Academy, he went on to pursue further military education through a variety of courses at the Norwegian Defense College and the Army War School.
As a result of his training and excellent military career, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo has extended an offer to him to relocate back to his own country and serve as Minister of Defense to improve the armed forces of the Republic of Kosovo. After 35 years in Norway, Minister Mehaj recently relocated back to Kosovo.
Minister Mehaj embraced the responsibility and has already served as the Ministry of Defense's leader for two years, understanding that serving one's country is of utmost importance.
The following is an excerpt from the interview: 

As you are aware, Bangladesh has strengthened her defence connections with numerous nations, including Japan, India, China, the United States, Russia, and Turkey. How would you rate the defence cooperation between Kosovo and Bangladesh?
Let me begin by quoting the father of your nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He described your main foreign policy principle as "friendship to all, malice towards none", which is very similarly reflected in your defence policies as well. Bangladesh's defence connections with numerous nations are geared toward peace consolidation. We commend Bangladesh's peaceful foreign policy. Your country is promoting global peace, particularly through its contributions to peacekeeping missions. Let me express our gratitude to your country for providing security to Kosovo in the post-war period. Hundreds of Bangladeshi police officers served as peacekeepers in Kosovo, ensuring safety of our citizens.  On the other side Kosovo and Bangladesh have developed intense relations in a considerably short amount of time. We signed one agreement two MoUs so far. Also the Agreement on Cultural Cooperation, the Agreement on Economic Cooperation and the Agreement for Avoiding of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion between the two countries are in progress. With the engagement of the two parties, bilateral relations are increasing day by day. As Kosovo, we are eager to cooperate with Bangladesh in defence sector as well. Our visit to Dhaka is proof of this intention. We are keen to cooperate in multilateral forums as well.
Armend Mehaj, the defense minister of Kosovo, converses with Bangladesh's prime minister's defense and security adviser, Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, rcds, Psc (retd).



What difficulties can small states face in the context of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? Do you believe that tiny governments like Kosovo are thinking about enhancing their security? 
First of all, let me emphasize that my country deplores the terrible consequences of the unjustified aggression of Russia on Ukraine and we express our full solidarity with the Ukrainian people. There may be problems between countries, but there are peaceful instruments and ways to overcome the problems. As the European Union model demonstrates that people who value cooperation, peace, and democracy will prevail but not the invaders. On the other side, aggression makes opponents become closer allies.  For example, Finland became a member of NATO a few weeks ago. Sweden is very close to NATO membership. We, as the Republic of Kosovo, are seriously considering and willing to join the NATO alliance in order to reduce our security risks. To face the regional and global challenges of safety, Kosovo`s strategic solution is the integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures. The membership institutionalizes the relations between the countries, particularly in the economic and defence field, as well as sets the frames of the behavior with which the weak are protected from the eventual misuse of the most powerful ones. Our vision is very clear. We want to build Kosovo on the fundamental principles of democracy.  It is necessary to provide a suitable environment for the functionality of democracy and the welfare of the people. Small countries strengthen their democracy and welfare environment with peaceful approaches and pragmatic partnerships in different fields, including security and defence.

Since Kosovo is a landlocked, newly independent country that is bordered by NATO nations, could you explain NATO's involvement in Kosovo during Kosovo's crucial period?
NATO played a crucial role in ending the humanitarian crisis caused by the Serbian regime in Kosovo. All over the world must know that Serbian regime killed over 15.000 people in Kosova, raped 20.000 women, during the war in 1999 killed 1392 children, and also 40 children was killed before the war, in total we have 1432 children who was killed by Serbian regime, also we have still missing over than 1600 people, we had 200.000 houses fired and over than 1 million people who was departure by force. All these crimes you can find in the book “Albanian children in Kosova – victims of the state genocide of Serbia”,  with author PHD, Nustret Pllana.      NATO, even with less number of troops comparing the initial phase of post war period, continues with its peace-support mission in Kosovo. The NATO-constructed structure under the name Kosovo Force (KFOR) was established in 1999, when NATO’s 78-day air campaign against the Serbian regime, aimed at putting an end to violence in Kosovo, was over. We still perceive threats from countries that have not embraced democracy and are ruled by autocrats. Despite the positive trends we have in Southeast Europe, there is another trend that could easily trigger a return to the bitter history of the Balkans. For that reason, it is important that all the countries in the region share a common vision of their Euro-Atlantic future. Unfortunately, Serbia refuses to come under the same umbrella of security and thereby harms trust-building in the region. Not only that, but it threatens the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well, through the Serbian entity and its elements there.
Kosovo’s defense minister held a meeting with Bangladesh Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed at Dhaka Cantonment. The meeting emphasized on defense and other areas between Kosovo and Bangladesh. 

Could you explain us about the structure, goals, and security forces in Kosovo?
The Kosovo Security Force (KSF) is an armed force that was transformed from the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) in January 2009, 11 months after the declaration of independence of the country. Let me clarify that the KPC the predecessor of the KSF, was founded in 1999 with the incorporation of the structures of the dissolved Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) into it. The KSF is tasked with defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kosovo, providing military support for civil authorities, and participating in international peacekeeping missions and operations. Since 2018, it has been in the process of transforming into the Kosovo Armed Forces (KAF). Until the end of 2028, finalization of the transformation of the KSF into the KAF is expected.
Any citizen of Kosovo over the age of 18 is eligible to apply for service in the Kosovo Security Force.  The membership of the Kosovo Security Force is required to reflect the ethnic composition of the country. Members of the Security Force are protected from discrimination on the basis of gender or ethnicity. The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Kosovo has taken active steps to recruit women into the KSF, and has also encouraged all the ethnic communities living in Kosovo to be part of the structure.

What do you think about the over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, and do you think they pose a threat to the security of both Bangladesh and the world?
A refugee crisis can arise anywhere in the world. Most of us Kosovars experienced what is to be a refugee in 1999. The real problem is not the refugees themselves, but the brutality that oblige people to be refugee. I am sure that the Rohingya people originally from Myanmar will be forever grateful to Bangladesh and the Bengali people who have embraced and hosted them. It is not easy to host more than one million refugees. Bangladesh deserves the highest commendation for this humanitarian approach. Rohingyas are human beings like we are. They deserve to go back to their homelands. Unfortunately, Myanmar with its domestic political instability always found a pretext to neglect the obligations they have toward their citizens, to the Rohingya people. Accelerating the Rohingyas' return would be beneficial for all parties. Postponing the process can also lead to increased security problems, including organized and individual crimes inside the camps. The international community should support Bangladesh more and increase the pressure on Myanmar. This is not enough, a decent living environment should be created for the Rohingyas in Myanmar. In addition, those who perpetrated atrocities against the Rohingyas should be prosecuted.

Could you explain Kosovo's economic connections with Bangladesh and how they could be improved?
Both Kosovo and Bangladesh have high economic growth. This demonstrates that both countries are very dynamic and have increased potential for cooperation. With the engagement of two parties, bilateral trade is growing steadily, and cooperation between our institutions is at a satisfactory level. For a short amount of time, we achieved a lot in trade relations. According to the figures of the Kosovo Statistical Agency, in 2022 trade volume between the two countries reached 21 million US dollars, which means around 30 percent more than in 2021. Even though modest, this growth trend makes us optimistic for the future. On the other hand, after the Visa Unit opened in our Embassy in Dhaka, in October 2022, the number of Bangladeshis visiting and working in Kosovo began to rise. Cooperation between the two countries is increasing in every field. Both parties show a common will to increase mutual investments, joint ventures and trade volume. We will continue to invite our companies for closer cooperation. We are satisfied with the perseverance and determination shown by the parties so far.  That makes us optimistic about the future of our relations.