Arming the Kosovo army, which should not exist under UN Security Council Resolution 1244, is a violation of international law, tramples on German laws, and is a message to Serbia, outgoing Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said on Wednesday.
Russian news service Sputnik said on its Serbian-language portal, without specifying sources, that Kosovo has been negotiating with German intelligence services on the purchase of cannon and anti-armor missiles for its military.
Sputnik claimed that the Kosovo authorities also want light artillery and infantry weapons. Serbia is opposed to the forming of a Kosovo military saying that runs counter to UN Security Council resolution 1244.
Vulin’s statement comes in reaction to the Sputnik report. His written statement said that “handing weapons to terrorists who have been indicted for war crimes at the Hague while hoping for peace and stability in the region is hypocrisy or madness”.
“When Germany demonstrates military power, the entire world should be concerned about its future. History is repeating itself,” he said.
Sputnik accused Germany of “advocating negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade while, on the other hand, contracting the purchase of arms and military equipment with Kosovo”.
Germany is “violating its own rules and laws since a 1971 regulation includes a ban in principle on arms exports to countries which are not NATO members, Sputnik said.
It said that the Kosovo Albanians have paid Germany some 170 million Euro to buy arms, equipment and pay for the training of the Kosovo Security Forces and added that the negotiations are underway to buy another shipment of Heckler & Koch G-36 assault rifles and Leopard 2 tanks.
Financuar Nga Bashkimi Europian
