Another 20 minority members join the Kosovo Protection Corps (Dailies)

All daily newspapers report that as of Tuesday another 20 minority members that live in Kosovo will be wearing the uniform of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC). The group of new recruits, which consists of 3 Serbs, 7 Bosniaks, 3 Turks, 2 Ashkali, 2 Croats, an Egyptian and a Roma, raises to 215 the number of minority members of the KPC, or seven percent of the overall number of KPC members.

Koha Ditore quotes KPC Deputy Commander General Rrahman Rama saying the inclusion of another 20 minority members in the KPC is very important for the KPC, for its members and for the people of Kosovo. “The KPC is an institution that enjoys the greatest respect in the country, it is loved without any differences,” Rama added.

The paper quotes another KPC general Sadria Music, who is also a member of minority communities, as saying that they have had difficulties in convincing some community members to join the KPC, most notably the members of the Serb minority. “The biggest problem in this respect is Belgrade’s policy which is a constant impediment to the stabilisation of the situation in Kosovo and the KPC,” Music added.

Zëri in its front-page coverage notes that the KPC is expected to be the nucleus of the future army of Kosovo. The paper also recalls that the International Crisis Group has suggested that the Kosovo should have an army of 3,000 members, but yesterday KPC Deputy Commander Rrahman Rama said that the future army of Kosovo should have a bigger number than that proposed by the ICG. “We think that the number of members of the army of Kosovo should be more than 3,000, not only because we want this but because of the needs and requirements in our country,” Rama was quoted as saying.