Montenegro Scraps Plan to Join NATO Mission in Kosovo

Montenegrin soldiers on the training in a military camp near the town of Danilovgrad. Photo: Montenegrin Government

The Ministry of Defence said it had abandoned the plan to send a platoon of 30 soldiers to Kosovo, announced by the former government, led by the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS.

The Kosovo Force, KFOR, is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force. It has been present in the former Serbian province of Kosovo since the war there ended in 1999. Once about 50,000 strong, it now numbers about 3,500 troops, about 660 from the US.

"Due to the situation caused by pandemic and budget restrictions, in 2021 the Montenegrin government does not plan joint preparations, trainings or engagements of the Montenegrin Army infantry platoon in KFOR," the ministry told local TV Vijesti.

The decision reflects unease felt by now dominant pro-Serbian parties in taking part in missions in the former serbian province whose independence Serbia does not recognise.

It came after the ruling pro-Serbian Democratic Front said it would demand a parliamentary probe if the defence ministry deployed soldiers in KFOR, claiming it could damage relations with Serbia. The DF is the largest coalition in the ruling majority and, like Serbia, rejects Kosovo as an independent state.

"We won the parliamentary elections last August to protect the spiritual, historical and national identity of the Serbian and Montenegrin people and the ties between Montenegro and Serbia. If you decide to send Montenegrin soldiers to Kosovo, you will have at least an interpellation [a probe in parliament]," a Democratic Front leader, Milan Knezevic, said on May 7.

Montenegro's new government was elected in December 2020 after three opposition blocs won a...