Kosovo MPs to Vote on Creating Army Soon

The Commission for Legislation in the Kosovo parliament said it will proceed with amendments on transforming the current lightly armed security forces into a regular army, recommending that parliament ratify them.

"The commission will consider the amendments at the next meeting [on Wednesday] and will forward them the same day to parliament," Albulena Haxhiu, an MP from Vetevendosje and head of the commission, said.

The parliamentary leadership will convene on Thursday. If it appears that the necessary number of votes exist, the amendments will proceed toa session of parliament.

The government asked the Constitutional Court to approve amendments to the constitution allowing for the formation of an army more than a year ago.

The court approved this shortly before the national elections in June 2014, after which six months of political deadlock followed due to the parties' inability to form a majority coalition.

Last February, former Prime Minister and current Foreign Minister, Hashim Thaci, said it was only "a matter of months" until the Kosovo Armed Forces, FAK, were formed.

However, the announcement was thought to be timed to counteract the unpopular announcement that a court would be formed to try war crimes allegedly committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA.

Since then, the issue of the formation of the army has been used for political leverage but few concrete steps have been taken.

Kosovo's new Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, announced earlier this year that the army would need "NATO approval" to undertake actions in the Serb-majority north of the country.

Kosovo Serb MPs, whose votes are crucial for approving the constitutional amendments, have said the idea of a regular army is unacceptable to them as...