The UK must sign a bilateral security agreement with Kosovo
4 min read
Labour’s role in Kosovo is among our party’s greatest foreign policy successes. With pro-Russian, Serbian forces trying to destabilise the country, we must step up once again.
Despite the war in Ukraine beginning in 2014, following Russia’s occupation of Crimea, few in the West imagined Russia would launch a full-scale invasion of the country in 2022. Even though our allies in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics had spent years warning us about Putin’s territorial ambitions.
Each destabilising Russian action between 2014 and 2022 was met with an ineffective response. Once the news turned to other issues, normality would quickly resume. Simply put, we did not take Putin seriously enough. And we are all paying the price. But Ukraine is paying the heaviest price.
When I was elected by a group of Labour parliamentarians to become Vice-Chair of Labour Friends of Kosovo and the Western Balkans in July, I did not realise just how precarious the situation in the region had become.
I served in Kosovo in the late 1990s with the British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers. That intervention was led by the last Labour government and prime minister Tony Blair, who is revered in Kosovo. We put a stop to the ethnic cleansing campaign being perpetrated by the Milosevic regime in Serbia and saved thousands of lives in Kosovo. I am proud to have served my country there.
Today, Kosovo is a democratic country with a young population and a growing tech sector. I visited the country in November, and it was amazing to see how much had changed since I was stationed there in 1999. And yet, some things had remained the same.
When I visited Kosovo, I met with the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and British troops serving in the NATO KFOR base to better understand the security situation in the country alongside three other Labour MPs. We left with a clear feeling that Kosovo is extremely concerned by Serbia’s destabilising activity and territorial ambitions in the north of the country — and we must take their concerns seriously.
In September 2023, there was an armed attack by Serb militants in Banjska, a town in the north of Kosovo, which led to the death of a Kosovo police officer, Afrim Bunjaku. Milan Radoicic, then vice-president of the Kosovo Serb party backed by Belgrade, Serb List, admitted responsibility for the attack. He was released after one day of detention and is now a free man in Serbia. Radoicic is sanctioned by the UK.
Two weeks after our delegation, a key water canal in Kosovo was attacked in what was clearly a professional operation. Were it not for the rapid work of the authorities to control the flow of water, it could have interrupted the water supply for the majority of the country’s population, as well as the water supply for its power plants.
In Bosnia, Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian leader of the Bosnian Serbs, also sanctioned by the UK, constantly threatens to secede from Republika Srpska from the state of Bosnia & Herzegovina and unify with Serbia.
Milosevic’s ethnonationalist ideology is undoubtedly still alive and kicking at the top of Serbia’s government, and links with Russia are strong. Aleksandar Vulin, Deputy Prime Minister, sanctioned by the US, is an unashamed proponent of this nationalist ideology and strong Serbia-Russia ties. Under President Vucic, who served in the Milosevic government, Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions on Russia and, mirroring Putin’s rule, Serbia’s democratic decline under Vucic has been significant. Now, his government faces near daily protests.
While the Balkan countries may seem small, we have to remind ourselves of Churchill’s famous reference about the region being “the soft underbelly of Europe”.
That is why it is now essential for the UK government to establish a Bilateral Security Agreement with Kosovo to strengthen defence and security cooperation, promote defence industrial collaboration, and send a strong message to Serbia and Russia.
Conflict in Kosovo and the Balkans will likely draw in NATO countries such as Croatia, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey and Italy. It will distract the UK, US and EU from the war in Ukraine, playing into Russia’s hands. It will drive significant migration from the region and beyond to Western Europe, with organised criminals waiting to profit. Europe’s security will be greatly affected, and our national security in turn.
Labour’s role in Kosovo and the Balkans should be seen among our party’s greatest foreign policy successes. We must ensure that it remains that way through progressive realism and deterrence.
That means taking Vucic’s government at face value and being firm with Serbia. It means taking the concerns of our allies seriously. And it means supporting progressive forces across the Balkans who want to leave those dark days of the 1990s behind for good.
Paul Foster is the Labour MP for South Ribble and Chair of the Armed Forces APPG.
