PRISTINA - Kosovo has called on its citizens both at home and abroad to donate money to boost its security forces as the country's prime minister urged the European Union and NATO to engage more in the Balkans after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said a fund was opened in "consultation with international partners", without giving further details, and government sources told Reuters the fund had been created in response to developments in Ukraine.
Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, employs the lightly armed Kosovo Security Force (KSF), with 5000 regular soldiers and 3000 reservists.
"The Balkans is not immune to the effects of the situation in Ukraine," Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said during an interview with Sky News in London on Wednesday, noting that Russia had supplied Serbia with fighter jets and heavy artillery in recent years. "The EU and NATO should engage more with the Western Balkans."
NATO has 3770 troops on the ground in Kosovo to maintain a fragile peace, led by the United States which accounts for more than 600 of them.
NATO has refused to help Kosovo's army because four of its members still do not recognise Kosovo as an independent state. However, the country of 1.8 million is already cooperating with individual NATO members including the U.S. and others.
Defence Minister Armend Mehaj called on the United States on Sunday to establish a permanent military base in the country and speed up its integration into NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine..
NATO's main role is keep the peace in the north of the country where some 50,000 local Serbs, backed by Belgrade, refuse to recognise Kosovo's authorities and are calling for partition among ethnic lines in order to unite with Serbia.
Kosovo has joined other countries in introducing sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine but Serbia has not.
Serbia and its traditional ally Russia do not recognise Kosovo's independence and Belgrade still claims the breakaway province as part of its territory.