American weapons for Kosovo also cause concern in Russia

Russia has reacted strongly against the sale of sophisticated weapons to the Kosovo army by the US, reports The Geopost.

The pro-Kremlin media carried a statement by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova that “Moscow condemns any attempt to arm Kosovo’s illegal paramilitary formations.”

Russian media quotes a Moscow official as saying: “The irresponsibility of Washington and its allies, disregard for the norms of international law and the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 undermine the negotiation process on the Kosovo issue and increase the risk of destabilization both in the region itself and in the Balkan region as a whole.”

This is almost the same statement as the one made by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic two days ago, when he also spoke out against the sale of sophisticated weapons to the Kosovo army.

“The so-called Kosovo security forces, which cannot exist according to the norms of international law and Resolution 1244, together with the so-called police of Kosovo, have a total of 223 armored vehicles. They want to increase to 350 armored vehicles, they want to have 5500, as they say, professional soldiers and another 20,000 in the first reserve in 2027. These are their plans. There are no surprises for us. “America is leading them,” Vucic said.

Vucic claimed that Prishtina has the fastest growing military and police budget in the region. In response, he announced new investments to expand Serbia’s military capabilities, including equipping its air defense system.

Official statistics show that Serbia is the country that has allocated the most budget for the purchase of new weapons in the region, mainly from Russia and China. Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows a sharp increase in Serbian military spending from 710 million US dollars in 2016 to 1.4 billion US dollars in 2022.

Meanwhile, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on January 11 that it had approved Kosovo’s request for 246 Javelin FGM-148F missiles and tracking equipment at an estimated cost of 69 million euros (75 million US dollars). .

“This proposed sale will support U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives by enhancing the security of a European partner that is a major force for political and economic stability in Europe,” the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Military Political Affairs said.

Following a parliamentary decision, Kosovo’s security forces will be transformed into a formal and professional army. Prishtina aims for the transformation to be completed by 2028, while the purchase of new weapons will continue during this period./The Geopost/