"Britain must send more troops to Kosovo to prevent war in the Western Balkans".
This was stated by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for "The Telegraph", adding that NATO's presence in Kosovo is only "symbolic" and would not be enough to prevent an invasion of Serbia.
Kurti's remarks came after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic hinted he would try to restore Kosovo. He stated that "Serbia will wait for the best possible moment and take advantage of the opportunity".
The Prime Minister said that Britain should increase its military presence in the Western Balkans.
"Britain is part of NATO and acts and works that way. I think there should be more NATO troops in Kosovo," Kurti said.
The head of the Kosovo government said that "NATO can and should be more involved in Kosovo, both militarily and politically."
There are about 4,500 NATO troops in Kosovo.
Kurti said he had asked Brussels several times for more troops in Kosovo. He said he made the request even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The prime minister also requested in September last year after the terrorist attack in Banska that killed police sergeant Afrim Bunyaku.
After the raid, in an attempt to expand, around 200 British troops were sent to join the 400 British troops stationed there.
These additional troops have since left.
At the time, Alicia Cairns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the British Parliament, accused the West of failing to protect Kosovo from Serbian and Russian aggression, and called on the British government to ensure that "no policy is adopted in the Balkans, in the centre of which is Belgrade".
Kurti said that while the NATO troop presence was "significant" in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo, overall "it has not increased much and the presence is symbolic".
Within KFOR in Kosovo, there are only 45 British military personnel out of a total of 4,443.
Italy has 1,322 troops, the United States has 572, and Hungary has 365.
Kurti told the publication about the Serbian bases near the border with Kosovo - 48 in number. He said that of these 48 bases, 28 are military and 20 gendarmerie.
"Serbia is waiting for an opportune moment to attack us," the Kosovo leader added.
Kurti described Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as "little Putin".
He said he was not surprised that last December Vucic publicly showed his admiration for Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev when he captured the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian forces.
Vucic has his own ambitions to conquer Kosovo. Because of the threats Serbia poses to us, and because of its ties to the Kremlin, the security of our country and region will be enhanced if we have more capacity and capabilities for our military and police, as well as more NATO troops. I think that as long as Serbia does not recognize Kosovo, as long as Serbia maintains 48 operational bases around our country, and as long as Serbia is a close ally of the Kremlin, there should be more capacity from our side and more NATO troops," Kurti said.
He said Kosovo already spends more than 2 per cent of GDP on defence, meeting a NATO target that many alliance members are not meeting.
The Kosovo Prime Minister talked about the time he spent in Lipjan and Pozarevac prisons from 1999 to the end of 2001, where he was tortured by the Serbian regime. Vucici was the Minister of Information at the time.
"He is still in power and I became the prime minister, but I do not feel hatred towards the Serbs. However, I wish that Serbia would change its attitude and approach towards Kosovo to normalize relations. I believe in justice without revenge. I do not I believe in revenge. If there is revenge, then there can be no justice," Kurti said./BGNES
