The Swiss contribution to the NATO peacekeeping force KFOR carries weight. Questioning this, like the SVP, with election campaign demands ultimately endangers Switzerland’s security.
Swisscoy soldiers clear a roadblock in northern Kosovo in June 2012.
The pioneers of the Swisscoy will be spared a tough mission before the end of the year: the soldiers from the Swiss contingent of the NATO peacekeeping force KFOR do not have to move out to clear the barricades in northern Kosovo with their heavy construction machinery. At the behest of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the troublemakers are dismantling the roadblocks themselves.
The escalation in the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo was once again prevented – not least thanks to the military presence of the Kosovo Force (KFOR). The NATO peacekeeping force is the only instrument of the international community that is accepted by both sides. She has a UN mandate. That is why the Swiss army has also been able to take part since September 1999.
Strict neutrality as a unique selling point
Of course, the Swisscoy members would be exposed if they had to enforce freedom of movement together with comrades from other KFOR nations against the will of local actors. Above all in the information space, the political-military battlefield of images and messages, they could become part of a regional polemic. However, nothing more than fake news, i.e. sabotage with words, is to be feared.
Swiss pioneers cleared Serbian barricades as early as 2011, and again in 2012 when two Bundeswehr soldiers were injured in a rough operation. In 2004, Swisscoy experienced what was probably the most dangerous situation to date: at that time, Swiss infantrymen protected the Serbian part of a small town in southern Kosovo from an incited mob.
The current situation, while challenging for the KFOR, is no more dangerous than past eruptions. Serbia in particular has toyed with all elements of hybrid warfare. The pictures of a battery of modern self-propelled howitzers from our own production near the border served the spectacle – and also as an arms show for potential customers. However, an artillery deployment could be ruled out for political and military reasons.
The fact that the SVP is now demanding the immediate withdrawal of Swiss troops from Kosovo is nothing but an election campaign. A strict interpretation of neutrality should serve as a unique selling point. The corresponding initiative has been launched. But the Swisscoy is neither on the one nor on the other side. Rather, it helps to enforce fundamental rights such as freedom of movement.
Switzerland is connected to the Balkans
In addition, the KFOR mission is the minimum effort by Switzerland to benefit from the protection of its military neighbors, especially NATO. The war in Ukraine is only staying at a distance because the USA and its allies are spending troops, material and large sums of tax money to defend Europe. These efforts enable Switzerland to only have to finance a minimum of its own combat troops.
The peace operations in Kosovo and elsewhere offer a niche of military solidarity under the law of neutrality. Reducing this commitment would be an act of overconfidence. Switzerland depends on cooperation and has a great interest in the stability of the Western Balkans. The emotions that erupt during football matches between the Swiss national team and Serbia are evidence of the close human ties between Switzerland and the region.
The Swisscoy should therefore be strengthened rather than weakened. In Kosovo, Switzerland could even use more robust forces to relieve the states that are currently under pressure on the border with Ukraine. The funds are available and the required quality of training is given. Regardless of their ethnic group, the population of Kosovo knows what the Swiss cross on the camouflage suit stands for: for the idea of a country that unites opposites and is therefore also impartial.