The Head of EULEX, Giovanni Pietro Barbano, said in an interview with KosovaPress that European Union member states are ready to risk the lives of their police officers serving in the mission in order to support Kosovo and its institutions.

Barbano stated that EULEX, as the second security responder in Kosovo, is prepared to intervene if is it necessary, emphasizing that this is a very important political message.

“We are the second security responder. The Kosovo Police is the first security responder, while KFOR is the third responder. In between, EULEX acts as the second security responder, upon a clear request from the Kosovo Police, if the situation require it. By doing so, we exercise our role as the second responder in line with the will of the European Union member states. It means that EU member states are prepared to risk the lives of their police officers serving in EULEX in order to support Kosovo and its institutions. This is a very important political message that should be understood. It means that we are ready to intervene if is it necessary,” Barbano told KosovaPress.

He further stressed that EULEX remains committed to contributing to security efforts, adding that the mission has mechanisms in place to receive reinforcements from reserve police units if needed.

“We hope that this will not be necessary, but we also have mechanisms to receive reinforcements from reserve police units provided by the European Gendarmerie Force. We remain committed to contributing to efforts aimed at maintaining security. In this regard, we have enhanced mechanisms for joint training and continuous information exchange, and we have increased our interoperability with the Kosovo Police and KFOR. This has proven effective on several occasions,” he said.