Security Force in the Making: Capacity Building in Kosovo

This study examines the support given to the new security structures in Kosovo, such as the Kosovo Security Force and the Kosovo Security Council. This is done by using the previously identified challenges and factors for success as an analytical framework. These include the question of local ownership, donor coordination, training and equipping versus institution building, long-term impact and sustainability of the support given, as well as capacity building as an exit strategy. The report shows that all of these challenges are valid also in the Kosovo case. Local ownership has been limited, as Kosovo would have preferred an army rather than a security force. Ownership has also been rather limited to certain stakeholders, and this should be taken into consideration when developing future support to the Kosovar security sector. Adequate competences among the mentors and advisers have been lacking since primarily military support has been given to civilian structures. To promote democracy within the security sector, a larger amount of the mentors and advisers should be civilians. Therefore, the opportunity to deploy civilian advisers should be explored. Donors have also lacked in coordination and long-term engagement. To make improvements in this area a single North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) structure for supporting the Kosovo Security Force and its ministry should be developed. The decision on reaching Full Operational Capability seems to be guided by a certain date rather than at a certain state, which means that further support will probably be needed. Finally, the establishment of the new security structures has been complicated by the fact that a majority of states have not recognised Kosovo as an independent state. All in all, this has affected the effectiveness and sustainability of the Kosovar security sector.