The Kosovo parliament on Thursday voted in support of establishing a 5,000-strong national army, despite the parliament's Serb minority representatives declaring the move illegal. The landlocked Balkan territory of 1.8 million people is mostly populated by ethnic Albanians, with a significant Serb minority.

Three laws, promoted by theKosovo government and passed in a first reading, upgraded the mandate of the lightly-armed domestic Kosovo Security Force (KSF) to be transformed into an army, which the government said bypassed the need to make changes to the constitution.

The draft laws received support from 98 deputies in the 120-seat parliament, but the vote was boycotted by the legislature's 11 Serb deputies and criticized by officials in Belgrade. Serb deputies fear an army would tighten the central government's grip on the autonomous Serb-majority areas near the Serbian border.

Read more: Serbia and Kosovo: One agreement, two interpretations

Approval in a second reading in a few days' time is required for the legislation to be completed.

Kosovo, formerly a Serbian province, declared independence in 2008, and is still guarded by NATO troops. However, the US has recently called for an exit strategy for the international forces.

Serbia 'would be cornered'

The peacekeepers' pullout and the creation of the Kosovo army could lead to "tragic consequences," said Serbian strongman Aleksandar Vucic after speaking to US Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Palmer in Belgrade on Friday.

"I have pointed out that we would have a big problem and would be cornered" if the Kosovo army would be deployed to the Serb-dominated regions, Vucic told reporters.

NATO moved into the state in June 1999, following weeks of air strikes by the alliance, to end the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanian civilians by Serbian forces fighting a two-year counter-insurgency after the break-up of Yugoslavia. The US has continued to back Kosovo authorities in their push towards independence, and the young state remains firmly allied with Washington.

Following the vote in the Kosovo parliament, the US embassy in Pristina urged the Kosovo officials to create a "professional, multiethnic military" which would closely coordinate with NATO.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Traces of war In the late 1990s, the conflict in Kosovo was escalating as tens of thousands of people fled the region. After all efforts at pacifying the region failed, NATO began carrying out air raids on military bases and strategic targets in Serbia on March 24, 1999. Eleven weeks later, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic finally gave in.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Peaceful resistance fails In the mid 1980s, protests began in Kosovo against government attempts to curtail the rights of the Albanian majority. The reprisals worsened in the 1990s. Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the political movement in Kosovo since 1989, tried to make Milosevic change course using peaceful resistance - without success.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Armed guerilla warfare An armed resistance formed in Kosovo. The self-appointed liberation army UCK started a brutal guerrilla war and carried out violent attacks against Serbs and Albanians whom they saw as collaborators. Serbia reacted with retaliatory measures: Houses were torched and shops plundered, as hundreds of thousands fled the region.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Systematic expulsion As time passed, the war became ever more brutal. Serbian forces increasingly attacked civilians with the aim of breaking the UCK's resistance and its support among the population. Many people looked for refuge in the forests. Trains and trucks transport thousands of people to the borders - without passports or other documents which could prove that their home had been in Kosovo.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Last attempt at negotiation Under the auspices of the US, France, the UK, Russia and Germany, the conflicting parties attended a conference in Rambouillet, France in February 1999 with the aim of working out a limited settlement guaranteeing Kosovo's autonomy. Representatives of Kosovo accepted the conditions of the deal, but their Serbian counterparts were not willing to make any concessions. The negotiations failed.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia 'Humanitarian intervention' On March 24, 1999, NATO began bombarding military and strategic targets in Serbia and Kosovo in order to stop the violence against Albanians. Germany joined the military action, known as Operation Allied Force. It was NATO's first war in its 50-year history - and that without the official backing of the UN Security Council. Russia sharply condemned the intervention.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Infrastructure destroyed Next to military installations, NATO also attacked transportation networks such as railroad tracks and bridges. During the following 79 days and nights, the alliance carried out more than 37,000 operations with 20,000 rockets and bombs striking Serbian territory and killing countless civilians - what NATO referred to as "collateral damage."

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Poison clouds over Pancevo Industrial sites were also among the targets. NATO bombs hit chemical plants and a fertilizer factory in the town of Pancevo near the capital, Belgrade. Huge amounts of toxic substances made their way into rivers, soil and the air, with grave health consequences for the local population. Serbia accused NATO of having used depleted uranium ammunition, as well as cluster and fragmentation bombs.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia War against war propaganda In order to deprive Slobodan Milosevic of his most important propaganda tool, NATO decided to attack Serbia's public television station in Belgrade. The Serbian government, although told of the attack in advance, withheld the information from the public. Sixteen people lost their lives in the bombing.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Off target In Kosovo, NATO bombs inadvertently hit a group of Albanian refugees, killing an estimated 80 people. More "collateral damage" occurred when NATO bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing four people. The incident led to a severe diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Washington.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Horrific outcome In early June, communications out of Belgrade showed that Milosevic was finally willing to make concessions. NATO brought an end to its raids on June 19. During the air strikes, thousands of people were killed, 860,000 refugees were displaced and Serbia's economy and infrastructure were largely destroyed. Kosovo was placed under the administration of the United Nations. Author: Sonila Sand / ad



'Unforeseeable consequences'

Marko Djuric, Belgrade's chief government negotiator in EU-mediated talks with Kosovo, warned of "unforeseeable consequences" for regional security if the army was formed and urged international reaction.

"Serbia will protect its interests on the whole of its territory," Djuric said, reaffirming Belgrade's position that Kosovo is still a part of Serbia.

Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said in a statement that the only armed forces in Kosovo must be NATO-led peacekeepers and that a Kosovo army would "threaten Serbia and the Serbs."

Read more: '2025 is ambitious for Western Balkans to join EU'

The US-led NATO alliance, which has 4,000 troops in the Balkan country, has also in the past urged Kosovo not to create a national army unless it had the support of the Serb minority.

It is not the first time the nationalist-dominated government has tried to create a national army. Last year the government's attempt was stymied by the refusal of Serb politicians to agree to change the constitution.

The United States and most of the EU member states recognize Kosovo, but objections from UN Security Council members Russia and China, which back Serbia in not accepting Kosovo's independence, have prevented it from becoming a member of the United Nations.

Kosovo and Serbia also have to normalize their relations if they are ever to become members of the European Union.

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law, dj/jm (AP, Reuters, Beta)

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