Kosovo

Conscription currently imposed?

No

 

Conscientious objection first recognised

 

Voluntary paramilitary service since independence. CO provisions never introduced.

CO release of professional soldiers

–

No provisions.

Minimum recruitment age

18

 

Population

Total

% males 15-19

Thus approx. annual cohort reaching 18

1,762,000

2.8

9,867

Armed forces

Total strength

Of which conscripts

Compared to annual cohort above

3,000

-

30.4%

Military expenditure

$ (% change from 2022)

Per capita

% of GDP

$133m (+23.8%)

$80.0

1.3%

Current situation & recent developments

Although Kosovo has since independence hitherto had only a small voluntary paramilitary force, plans to introduce conscription are in the pipeline. On 14 December 2018, the Assembly of Kosovo passed the final legislation to redefine the KSF as a "professional military force" and to establish Kosovo's Ministry of Defence. The law predicts a transformation process that consists of three stages and will finish in 2028.

A news item from 5th January 2024 quoted Milovan Drecun, President of the Serbian Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija as expressing concern “that the planned deadline for introducing mandatory military service, originally set for 2028, has been significantly moved forward, and this year they plan a pilot project with mandatory military service. They still don't know if it will be a total of three months or three months of summer service, three months of winter service," Drecun said. He emphasised that it could create a significant problem for the Serbian people and be additional pressure on Serbs to either leave or serve in the KSF [Kosovo Security Force], which, he stated, was the main factor endangering the security of the Serbian people.”[1]

[1] Available here.