Montenegro 'Intends to Join KFOR'

Montenegro is waiting for NATO approval to contribute troops to KFOR forces in Kosovo, after it "expressed [the] intention" to join, BIRN has learned.

Several sources from Montenegro's defence and foreign affairs ministries have confirmed the government submitted a request to NATO to send soldiers to Kosovo before Podgorica received its invitation to join the alliance last week.

"The Western military alliance's decision is expected soon," a senior official from the foreign ministry told BIRN.

Montenegro plans to deploy a few soldiers, a defence ministry official said, in accordance with the capacity of its 2,000-strong armed forces.

Although Montenegro's army has participated in several international missions, including NATO-led International Security Assistance Force operations in Afghanistan, it has never deployed military units in Kosovo because of the complicated internal political situation.

A large proportion of Montenegrins, about a third of the population, declare themselves as ethnic Serbs and still strongly oppose Kosovo's independence, which was recognised by Podgorica in 2008.

Ethnic Serbs in Montenegro maintain that Kosovo is a province of Serbia. Kosovo and Montenegro established diplomatic relations in 2010 but Podgorica still has only a chargé d'affaires in Pristina, and not an ambassador.

NATO has been leading peace-keeping operations in Kosovo since June 1999 in support of wider international efforts to build peace and stability in the area.

KFOR was established following NATO's 78-day air strikes campaign against former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic's regime, which was aimed at putting an end to violence in Kosovo.

KFOR's original objectives were to deter...