Kosovo alleges Serbia violated deal on how it uses US-made equipment

ROME and MILAN — Kosovo’s defense minister claims the Serbian government may have violated a deal struck with the United States on how it uses American military equipment.

On Sept. 24, about 30 armed ethnic Serbs entered a Kosovan village and killed a Kosovar police officer during a firefight, then took shelter in a monastery where police killed three of the ethnic Serbs while retaking the site.

According to Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti, the ethnic Serb paramilitary force trained in Serbia before the raid. He produced video footage allegedly showing them train with what appears to be an American-made military Humvee, manufactured by AM General.

Kosovar Defence Minister Ejup Maqedonci decried the alleged use of a Humvee.

“The rules that apply to us — as I am sure they are also applicable to other countries — for securing military-grade equipment, such as the military Humvees used, is that there needs to be congressional approval and an end-user certificate,” Maqedonci told Defense News. “These systems are designed so that U.S.-produced military equipment is not used in terrorist attacks. This case raises many questions about Serbia’s violations of such agreements.”

The battle was the latest outbreak of violence in Kosovo , which declared its independence from the Balkan nation of Serbia in 2008 and now oversees a restive Serbian minority community of about 50,000.

Serbia, which does not recognize Kosovan independence, accuses Kosovo of mistreating Serbian residents.

Kosovo alleges Serbia foments violent resistance by arming the community.

Days after the battle, Kosovo’s prime minister posted the drone footage appearing to show a paramilitary exercise carried out at night.

He claimed it showed ethnic Serbian paramilitary forces training at Pasuljanske Livade, a military base inside Serbia, four days before the attack.

A Kosovo government spokesperson alleged the footage was captured by Kosovo police from the ethnic Serb paramilitaries.

In one of the videos, a fighter is seen firing a weapon mounted in the roof turret of what appears to be a military Humvee vehicle.

Serbian officials held a news conference Oct. 2, 2023, in connection to Kosovo's allegations. (Serbian Defence Ministry)

“The attacks enjoyed the full support and planning of the Serbian state,” according to Kurti — a claim since denied by Serbia.

In 2012 and 2017, the U.S. donated a total of 40 Humvee light armored vehicles to the Serbian Army.

Serbia has also purchased Humvees from U.S. company AM General, which delivered 66 vehicles in July 2023 — part of an order for a total of 118 vehicles.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Defense News the government is “looking into this matter.”

“The United States takes seriously any allegation involving U.S.-provided equipment anywhere in the world,” the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for AM General told Defense News the company “cannot speak to the use of the vehicles by the customer.”

“AM General successfully delivered vehicles to Serbia following the [Direct Commercial Sales] process, which includes securing the proper authorization via an export license from the U.S. government,” the company spokesperson noted.

The Direct Commercial Sale process is used to export U.S. military goods by a U.S. firm made under a State Department license, as opposed to a Foreign Military Sales process, which is organized by the Defense Department.

For its part, Serbia has denied involvement in the raid in Kosovo.

When asked to confirm if the video showed a Serbian group training with a Serbian military-operated Humvee, the Serbian Defence Ministry referred Defense News to a press conference held Oct. 2 by Defence Minister Miloš Vučević and head of the military’s General Staff Gen. Milan Mojsilović, “where the allegations your questions refer to were refuted.”

During the news conference, Vučević denied the video showed the use of a Serbian Humvee during the training of paramilitaries.

“The fact that someone plays thermal vision recordings from a vague location, with utterly unidentified individuals and faces, can mean absolutely nothing,” he said.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

罗马和米兰——科索沃国防部长声称，塞尔维亚政府可能违反了与美国达成的关于如何使用美国军事装备的协议。

9月24日，约30名武装的塞族人进入科索沃的一个村庄，在交火中杀死了一名科索沃警察，然后躲进一座修道院。警察在夺回修道院时击毙了其中三名塞族人。

据科索沃总理阿尔宾·库尔蒂称，这支塞族准军事部队在突袭前曾在塞尔维亚接受训练。他还出示了一段视频，据称视频显示他们使用一辆疑似美国制造的军用悍马车进行训练，该车由AM General公司生产。

科索沃国防部长埃尤普·马格东齐谴责了据称使用悍马车的行为。

马格东奇告诉《防务新闻》：“适用于我们——我相信也适用于其他国家——的军用级装备（例如军用悍马车）的安全保障规则是，需要国会批准和最终用户证书。这些系统的设计目的是为了防止美国生产的军事装备被用于恐怖袭击。此案引发了人们对塞尔维亚违反此类协议的诸多质疑。”

这场战斗是科索沃最近一次暴力冲突。科索沃于 2008 年宣布脱离巴尔干国家塞尔维亚独立，目前统治着约 5 万名不安分的塞尔维亚少数族裔。

塞尔维亚不承认科索沃独立，并指责科索沃虐待塞尔维亚居民。

科索沃指责塞尔维亚通过武装当地民众煽动暴力抵抗。

战斗结束后几天，科索沃总理发布了无人机拍摄的视频，视频似乎显示了一次夜间进行的准军事演习。

他声称，视频显示塞尔维亚族准军事部队在袭击发生前四天在塞尔维亚境内的帕苏良斯克利瓦德军事基地进行训练。

科索沃政府发言人声称，这段视频是由科索沃警方从塞族准军事组织手中拍摄的。

其中一段视频显示，一名战士正在射击安装在疑似军用悍马车车顶炮塔上的武器。

2023年10月2日，塞尔维亚官员就科索沃的指控举行新闻发布会。（塞尔维亚国防部）

库尔蒂称，“这些袭击得到了塞尔维亚政府的全力支持和策划”——塞尔维亚方面否认了这一说法。

2012 年和 2017 年，美国共向塞尔维亚军队捐赠了 40 辆悍马轻型装甲车。

塞尔维亚还从美国公司 AM General 购买了悍马军车，该公司于 2023 年 7 月交付了 66 辆军车——这是总共 118 辆军车订单的一部分。

美国国务院发言人告诉《防务新闻》，政府正在“调查此事”。

发言人补充说：“美国严肃对待任何涉及美国提供的设备在世界任何地方发生的指控。”

AM General 的一位发言人告诉《防务新闻》，该公司“无法就客户对这些车辆的使用情况发表评论”。

“AM General 已成功按照[直接商业销售]流程向塞尔维亚交付车辆，其中包括通过美国政府的出口许可证获得适当的授权，”该公司发言人指出。

直接商业销售流程是指美国公司在国务院许可下出口美国军需品，而不是由国防部组织的对外军售流程。

塞尔维亚方面否认参与了对科索沃的袭击。

当被问及视频是否显示塞尔维亚团体正在使用塞尔维亚军方操作的悍马车进行训练时，塞尔维亚国防部向《防务新闻》提供了10月2日国防部长米洛什·武切维奇和军队总参谋长米兰·莫伊西洛维奇将军举行的新闻发布会的资料，“会上驳斥了你们问题中提到的指控”。

在新闻发布会上，武切维奇否认视频显示塞尔维亚悍马车被用于准军事部队的训练。

他说：“有人播放来自模糊地点、完全无法辨认的人物和面孔的热成像录像，这可能意味着任何事情。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。