Kosovo Protection Corps
Encyclopedia
The Kosovo Protection Corps was a civilian
emergency services organisation in Kosovo
active from 1999 to 2009.
The KPC was created on September 21, 1999 through the promulgation of UNMIK
Regulation 1999/8 and the agreement of a "Statement of Principles" on the KPC's permitted role in Kosovo. In effect, it was a compromise between the disarmament of the Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA) which was stipulated by UNSCR 1244 and rejected by the Kosovar Albanians, transforming the KLA into KPC.
and the dislocation of NATO forces in Kosovo, emerged the need for the definition of the Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA) role in accordance with the new situation. UN Resolution 1244, approved on June 1999, included KLA demilitarization
Therefore the same month, KFOR Commander, General Mike Jackson
, and Hashim Thaçi
, as General Commander of KLA, who at the time was Prime Minister of the Provisional Government in Kosovo, signed the Agreement for the Demilitarization and Transformation of the KLA.
Upon the completion of the demilitarization process, in September 1999 the UN Special Representative
Bernard Kouchner
signed Regulation nr 1999/8 for the foundation of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), which then is followed by the Declaration of Principles, signed by the KPC Commander and the KFOR Commander.
Immediately following the approval of these acts, the International Organization for Migration (IOM
) initiated the registration campaign of the KLA fighters, lasting from July 23 to November 31, 1999. According to IOM documents the total registration amounted to 25,723 members.
A number of KLA personnel joined the Kosovo Police.
The Kosovo Protection Corps has no role in defence, law enforcement
, riot control
, internal security
or any other law and order
tasks. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG
), the head of the UN in Kosovo, exercises direction, funding and administrative authority over the KPC. The Commander of KFOR, the NATO-peacekeeping force, is in charge of exercising day-to-day supervision of the KPC.
The KPC's first commander was Agim Çeku
, who resigned from the organisation in 2006 to become Prime Minister of Kosovo
. Lieutenant General Sylejman Selimi
, a former KLA military leader, is the current commander. The KPC is divided into six regional "Protection Zones," each with a regional commander. By 2001, each had an explosive ordnance disposal team, and there was a further centrally controlled team, making a total of seven teams. Allegations of misconduct and discipline violations have dogged the KPC since its formation. In June 2001, several senior officers in the KPC were removed for suspicion of aiding the ethnic Albanian insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia
.
The province is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the Serbian (and previously, the Yugoslav
) government and Kosovo's ethnic Albanians. Most Albanians consider the KPC a potential nucleus of a future army should Kosovo win independence. International negotiations began in 2006 to determine the final status of Kosovo (see Kosovo status process) which led in 2007 to proposals for 'supervised independence' which did not gain approval from the UN Security Council. Those proposals called for the disbanding of the KPC within one year and the establishment of a new and lightly armed Kosovo Security Force
(KSF).
In 2008 the KPC is standing down, with the simultaneous formation of the KSF. Their role will include explosive ordinance disposal as well as response to civil emergencies. The KSF has required that all prospective members apply, and that having served in the KPC does not guarantee a position with the KSF.
The KPC had 5,052 members, and a budget of €
17.6 million (US$
25.4 million) representing ca. 0.79% of GDP
.
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
emergency services organisation in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
active from 1999 to 2009.
The KPC was created on September 21, 1999 through the promulgation of UNMIK
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on 10 June 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244...
Regulation 1999/8 and the agreement of a "Statement of Principles" on the KPC's permitted role in Kosovo. In effect, it was a compromise between the disarmament of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
(KLA) which was stipulated by UNSCR 1244 and rejected by the Kosovar Albanians, transforming the KLA into KPC.
History
Immediately after the end of the 1999 Kosovo WarKosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
and the dislocation of NATO forces in Kosovo, emerged the need for the definition of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
(KLA) role in accordance with the new situation. UN Resolution 1244, approved on June 1999, included KLA demilitarization
Therefore the same month, KFOR Commander, General Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson
General Sir Michael David "Mike" Jackson, is a retired British Army officer and one of its most high-profile generals since the Second World War. Originally commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1963, he transferred to the Parachute Regiment, with whom he served two of his three tours of...
, and Hashim Thaçi
Hashim Thaci
Hashim Thaçi is the Prime Minister of Republic of Kosovo, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo , and former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army .-Early life and education:...
, as General Commander of KLA, who at the time was Prime Minister of the Provisional Government in Kosovo, signed the Agreement for the Demilitarization and Transformation of the KLA.
Upon the completion of the demilitarization process, in September 1999 the UN Special Representative
Special Representative of the Secretary-General
A Special Representative of the Secretary-General is a highly respected expert who has been appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to represent her/him in meetings with heads of state on critical human rights issues...
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
signed Regulation nr 1999/8 for the foundation of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), which then is followed by the Declaration of Principles, signed by the KPC Commander and the KFOR Commander.
Immediately following the approval of these acts, the International Organization for Migration (IOM
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
) initiated the registration campaign of the KLA fighters, lasting from July 23 to November 31, 1999. According to IOM documents the total registration amounted to 25,723 members.
A number of KLA personnel joined the Kosovo Police.
Mission
UNMIK Regulation 1999/8 assigned the following tasks to the KPC:- Provide a disaster responseDisaster responseDisaster response is a phase of the disaster management cycle. Its preceding cycles aim to reduce the need for a disaster response, or to avoid it altogether.The level of disaster response depends on a number of factors and particular situation awareness...
capability to tackle major fires, industrial accidents or toxic spills; - Conduct search and rescueSearch and rescueSearch and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
operations; - Provide humanitarian assistance;
- Assist in de-mining;
- Contribute to rebuilding infrastructureInfrastructureInfrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
and communities.
The Kosovo Protection Corps has no role in defence, law enforcement
Law enforcement
Law enforcement broadly refers to any system by which some members of society act in an organized manner to promote adherence to the law by discovering and punishing persons who violate the rules and norms governing that society...
, riot control
Riot control
Riot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used non-lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds...
, internal security
Internal security
Internal security, or IS, is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories. generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats...
or any other law and order
Law and Order
Law and Order may refer to:In politics:*Law and order , a term common in political debate and discussion, generally indicating support of a strict criminal justice system*Law and Order Offensive Party, a minor German political party...
tasks. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG
Special Representative of the Secretary-General
A Special Representative of the Secretary-General is a highly respected expert who has been appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to represent her/him in meetings with heads of state on critical human rights issues...
), the head of the UN in Kosovo, exercises direction, funding and administrative authority over the KPC. The Commander of KFOR, the NATO-peacekeeping force, is in charge of exercising day-to-day supervision of the KPC.
The KPC's first commander was Agim Çeku
Agim Çeku
Agim Çeku is the current Minister of Security Forces for the Republic of Kosovo. He is also the former Prime Minister of Kosovo and a chief of the Kosovo Liberation Army . He was born in the village of Ćuška near Peć, in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo .Çeku is an ethnic Albanian...
, who resigned from the organisation in 2006 to become Prime Minister of Kosovo
Prime Minister of Kosovo
The Prime Minister of Kosovo is Head of Government of the disputed Republic of Kosovo .The Prime Minister and the Government of Kosovo, which he or she heads, are responsible for their actions to the Assembly of Kosovo, of which they must all be members...
. Lieutenant General Sylejman Selimi
Sylejman Selimi
Lieutenant General Sylejman Selimi is the current Commander of the Kosovo Security Force of the Republic of Kosovo.-History:Prior to the Kosovo Security force, Selimi was commander of its predecessor, the Kosovo Protection Corps. On 19 December 2008, Selimi was appointed Commander of the Kosovo...
, a former KLA military leader, is the current commander. The KPC is divided into six regional "Protection Zones," each with a regional commander. By 2001, each had an explosive ordnance disposal team, and there was a further centrally controlled team, making a total of seven teams. Allegations of misconduct and discipline violations have dogged the KPC since its formation. In June 2001, several senior officers in the KPC were removed for suspicion of aiding the ethnic Albanian insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
.
The province is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the Serbian (and previously, the Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
) government and Kosovo's ethnic Albanians. Most Albanians consider the KPC a potential nucleus of a future army should Kosovo win independence. International negotiations began in 2006 to determine the final status of Kosovo (see Kosovo status process) which led in 2007 to proposals for 'supervised independence' which did not gain approval from the UN Security Council. Those proposals called for the disbanding of the KPC within one year and the establishment of a new and lightly armed Kosovo Security Force
Kosovo Security Force
The Kosovo Security Force is an emergency response force charged with conducting operations in Kosovo and abroad in the areas of Search and Rescue, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Firefighting, and Hazardous Material Disposal. It is widely assumed that the KSF will take on an additional defense...
(KSF).
In 2008 the KPC is standing down, with the simultaneous formation of the KSF. Their role will include explosive ordinance disposal as well as response to civil emergencies. The KSF has required that all prospective members apply, and that having served in the KPC does not guarantee a position with the KSF.
The KPC had 5,052 members, and a budget of €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
17.6 million (US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
25.4 million) representing ca. 0.79% of GDP
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
.
