Units of the Kosovo Security
Force have successfully completed a three-day joint exercise
with Albania's armed forces. Breaking the news today, Kosovo
Defense Minister Ejup Maqedonci, quoted by media in Belgrade,
said that in the exercise -- held in the area of Albania's Mount
Fekeni -- "all the planned tasks were completed." The Kosovo
Security Force has a civilian mandate, and authorities in
Pristina, with the support of the United States and other
Western countries, are accelerating the pace of its
transformation into a regular army with a military mandate. This
is strongly opposed by Serbia, which does not recognize the
independence of Kosovo, which is still considered an integral
part of its territory. Under Resolution 1244 adopted by the U.N.
Security Council in 1999 at the end of the war, the 'only armed
force authorized to be stationed on the territory of Kosovo is
KFOR, the NATO Peacekeeping Force.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
