The US Department of State has notified the US Congress of a proposed permit for the export of defense articles, technical data and defense services to Kosovo, in the amount of 14 million dollars or more, several sources within the Congress have told Radio Free Europe.
The notice was sent by the Bureau of Legislative Affairs of the US Department of State, pursuant to Section 36(c) of the Arms Export Control Act.
The same has been forwarded to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Section 36(c) requires the US administration to notify Congress of certain proposed sales or authorizations of defense articles and services to foreign countries.
The congressional document does not provide public details about the type of equipment or services that are included in this permit.
Radio Free Europe has addressed the Ministry of Defense of Kosovo for more details, but has not yet received any response from its officials.
The announcement to supply Kosovo with new American weaponry comes at a time when American congressmen are calling for Washington to support Kosovo’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Kosovo has not yet made a formal request to join NATO, as it faces major obstacles, such as its lack of recognition by the four member countries: Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
Kosovo also bought military equipment from Washington in the past.
In February 2025, Kosovo accepted drones purchased from the USA. Months later, Kosovo was supplied with armored cars bought in the USA.
In 2024, Kosovo requested the purchase of 200 Javelin anti-tank missiles.
At that time, the US Department of State had confirmed for REL that the value of the missiles that Kosovo wanted to buy was about 75 million dollars.
In 2018, Humvee-type military vehicles had arrived in Kosovo from the USA. For the supply of 51 vehicles of this type, the Government of Kosovo in 2018 had signed a contract with the American company, AM General.
Two years later, Kosovo also bought other military vehicles from the USA, while in 2021, the American Government donated 55 ASV (Armored Security Vehicle) vehicles to Kosovo.
The Kosovo Security Force (KSF) is currently in the process of becoming an army. The process of transforming KSF into armed forces started in 2018, after the adoption of legal changes. This process is expected to take ten years.
The United States has supported the transformation of the KSF into an army from the beginning, but not the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which insists that the KSF stick to its original tasks, such as crisis response or civil protection.
Currently, the KSF is preparing to join the International Stabilization Force for Gaza, which is part of the plan for peace in this region, proposed by the American president, Donald Trump.
A KSF team arrived last month in the Gaza Strip to make an assessment of the site where Kosovar troops are expected to operate as part of an international force in the Palestinian territory.
The composition of the International Stabilization Force has not yet been fully determined, but, under UN Resolution 2803, it is expected to operate in coordination with Israel and Egypt, as well as a newly trained Palestinian police force.
It is not yet clear when the first contingents will be deployed, but, according to some reports, this may happen in May./REL/
