Prime Minister in office of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has stated that the gendarmerie is a necessary structure of the time that will fill the gap between the Kosovo Police and the army.

He made these remarks during a press conference, emphasizing that Kosovo in recent years has faced numerous attacks, especially in its northern part.

Kurti also outlined the mandate that the Kosovo gendarmerie would have.

“In order to address major challenges and significant risks, and to deal with them, the establishment of the gendarmerie as a new, specialized, modern, and disciplined structure is a necessity of the time. It will fill the gap between the Kosovo Police and the army, namely the Kosovo Security Force. The gendarmerie will have a clear mandate: securing the land, water, and air border line across the entire territory of Kosovo, conducting operations against terrorist groups and armed groups, including those with a paramilitary character, preventing and combating all forms of cross-border smuggling of goods and migrants, managing high-security risk situations, and protecting critical infrastructure. The gendarmerie model is a proven European practice,” he said.

Kurti said that the establishment and functioning of the gendarmerie will be regulated by a special law, which will be voted on in the Kosovo Assembly in the next legislature.

Meanwhile, the acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said work is underway to create the gendarmerie with the aim of strengthening border control, protecting territorial integrity, and ensuring rapid response to security threats.

According to him, this structure will help the Kosovo Police focus more on public order and fighting crime.

Asked about the implementation of the Law on Foreigners, Kurti said the goal is legalization, adding that there is no normalization without legalization.

Minister Svecla said that hundreds of applications have been received from Serbian citizens living and working in Kosovo.“There have been hundreds of applications from citizens of Serbia who live or work temporarily in Kosovo. All of them are being individually verified, and once both legal requirements and the requests addressed to them are fulfilled, we will move to the next phase,” he said.