Kosovo's PM discusses plan to form country’s army with NATO chief

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg discussed by phone on Thursday the country’s plan to form a new army. The move has been strongly contested by Serbia and the alliance. Ramush Haradinaj assured Stoltenberg the transition from the Kosovo security forces into a regular army would be done in close cooperation with NATO. Stoltenberg said in a statement that he had talked with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Haradinaj, calling on them to “show calm and restraint, and avoid any provocative statements or actions.” He said he had warned Haradinaj that NATO would “examine the level of our engagement with the Kosovo Security Force,” AP reported. “I stressed that such a move is ill-timed, goes against the advice of many NATO allies, and can have negative repercussions on Kosovo’s prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration,” he added. Belgrade has warned the formation of a Kosovo army could trigger an armed intervention.