Kosovo has asked the United States to discuss buying helicopters for the Kosovo Security Force. Defense Minister Ejup Maqedonci said air support and air defense are priorities as the country develops its capabilities.
In an interview with Ekonomia Online, Maqedonci said the KSF commander submitted the helicopter request. He said the purchase would run through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, with the U.S. Department of War handling negotiations, procurement and other purchasing procedures.
Maqedonci said Kosovo has also acquired drones and that the KSF now has three types. He said the country is coordinating with U.S. partners on airspace defense and preparations for possible aerial attacks, and he described helicopters as part of air support.
He said important weapons systems were bought in recent years, especially over the past three to four years. Some were made public, while others appeared in exercises or institutional announcements. He cited four types of antitank systems, mortars for different ranges, several types of vehicles and mobile artillery systems.
According to the minister, capabilities are being adapted to current security conditions. With the KSF commander, Kosovo is increasing the number and variety of weapons and establishing new units. He singled out the special operations unit and the unmanned aerial vehicle unit, which were created after an assessment of Kosovo’s situation and defense needs and were outside the comprehensive transition plan.
Maqedonci said the KSF would reach its required personnel levels two years ahead of schedule, while recruitment of the active reserve continues. He linked the wider range and quantity of weapons to continued support from the prime minister and the government, and he said the aim was to meet Kosovo’s defense needs.
The comprehensive transition plan was approved by the Kosovo Assembly in 2018. Maqedonci said it was drawn up from a 2014 risk assessment, when the threats were different, and that it contains classified elements that cannot be made public.
He said he expects the KSF to be prepared to defend the country’s territory by 2028, while military development would continue after that year. The government has approved a comprehensive defense program, and a long-term capability plan is being drawn up. He described the goal as a professional army with the necessary equipment, a civilian volunteer reserve and institutions involved in the defense system. Citizens, he said, could train for a role without interrupting daily commitments and would be called up when necessary, including for crises and natural disasters as well as war.
The KSF is recruiting 530 members who are training in Ferizaj at the Doctrine and Training Command, as part of the effort to reach the transition plan’s target of 5,000 active members. Maqedonci recalled that during the previous government’s term the Kosovo Army’s budget quadrupled and many military objectives were achieved ahead of schedule.
Maqedonci described the security situation in Kosovo as stable. He pointed to Kosovo Police special-unit operations against terrorist groups, Kosovo Intelligence Agency work against Serbian espionage, a stronger KSF and coordination with international partners. He said a peaceful and stable environment had been established over the past two to three years, an assessment he said NATO had also made, and that Kosovo was contributing to its own security and to regional, European and global security.
He said the deployment of Serbian troops and bases near Kosovo concerns Kosovo’s institutions. Serbia, he said, has 48 forward operational army and gendarmerie bases along the border line, on Serbian territory and between 500 meters and 5 kilometers from Kosovo’s border. Kosovo has repeatedly raised the issue with NATO and its partners. He said reported withdrawals of some units were personnel movements, and that the bases themselves remained, so personnel could return.
Maqedonci said three of the Serbian Army’s four brigades are deployed in the south and support those operational bases: one in Raška, one in Niš and one in Vranje. He said this concentration is near the borders with Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia and is a cause for concern. He also cited Serbia’s acquisition of weapons, including hypersonic missiles bought from China.
He said Serbia’s militarization would be less concerning if, in his assessment, Belgrade’s policy toward its neighbors were not hegemonic and aggressive. He added that this did not frighten Kosovo, which is building military capabilities with partners, and that the KSF and other security institutions were determined to defend the country’s territory and citizens.
Maqedonci described Serbia’s approach to its neighbors as hybrid: cooperation among the army, police and intelligence service and unconventional actors, including criminal and terrorist groups, together with disinformation and other tools. In his view, the approach resembles the one the Russian Federation has used toward Ukraine and other countries in Eastern and Central Europe and may indicate that Russia and Serbia coordinate and share experience.
He said Kosovo has repeatedly told international partners that Serbia shelters people involved in criminal activity and supports groups that have operated in the region, particularly after the attack in Banjska. He alleged that those groups had aimed to annex part of northern Kosovo and had received support from the Serbian government and security institutions.
According to the minister, sheltering terrorist groups and people involved in criminal activity poses a risk to the Western Balkans and Europe and keeps Serbia in the role of a source of regional instability. He said the policy was long-standing, citing Ratko Mladić and earlier reports that Radoičić and others involved in criminal activity had been sheltered in Serbian state institutions.
Maqedonci said ultranationalist statements by Serbian politicians fit a long-standing pattern, while Serbia’s state policy toward neighboring countries was the main issue. In his assessment, dominating the Balkans remains part of Serbian policy, pursued through militarization, support for terrorist groups and activities by other Serbia-backed actors in the Western Balkans and beyond.