KFOR meets with citizens to hear concerns
Story and photos by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Cody Harding 4th Public Affairs Detachment
T
he mission of the NATO-led Kosovo Forces is to maintain a safe and secure environment and ensure freedom of movement throughout Kosovo. When achieving one goal hampers the other, however, local residents will let their opinions be heard. It then falls upon KFOR to help resolve the situation by meeting with members of the local community, evaluating the situation and planning a course of action in the best interests of all parties involved. In that capacity, KFOR met with locals Aug. 5 near the boundary crossing between Serbia and Kosovo, known as Dog 15, to help resolve an issue involving a barrier that was found to be more hindering than bene?cial to the community. KFOR soldiers from the Forward Command Post, Joint Regional Detachment-North and Engineers stationed at Camp Bondsteel met with residents from the local villages and the Kosovo Police from Zubin Potok to discuss the issues their vehicles were having as a result of the emplaced obstacles. Finding a balance between a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement can sometimes be challenging, said Swiss Army Specialist Of?cer Sven Ha?iger, a JRD-N soldier, but seeing KFOR and the locals talking about it is rewarding. “The people are talking with each other, we set this meeting up,” Ha?iger, a native of Lucerne, Switzerland, said. “This is very satisfying, because it helps the people who live here on the ground and improves KFOR’s reputation towards the people here, and vice versa.”
The barriers were installed for several reasons, including an incident a year ago when a fuel truck toppled over the narrow road into the lake beside it. KFOR positioned the barriers with the intention of allowing small, personal vehicles to pass through, while preventing larger and potentially dangerous vehicles from using the narrow road, instead of the authorized checkpoint just a few miles away known as DOG 31. The locals said that the clearance between the barriers were too small to maneuver through and were preventing personal trucks from passing by without damaging them and the barrier. The condition of the road, ?lled with large holes and deep ruts, was also a concern. Because of these issues, the local residents created a petition asking for KFOR to review the plan for the barrier and possibly change its design to further accommodate their vehicles. The petition was given to JRD-N, who then contacted KFOR to ask for support speaking with the locals and designing a plan to help address the concerns. U.S. Army Maj. Austin Marshall, the Multinational Battle Group-East Engineer, said that both sides had legitimate concerns that deserved to be heard and meeting with the community helped them understand each other. Marshall, a Utah National Guardsman from Sandy, Utah ,also stated that the locals were handling the situation in a professional manner and showed that they were well aware of the issues for all concerned parties. The representatives from KFOR said that they would begin working on a solution that would meet the needs of the locals while continuing the KFOR mission of maintaining a safe and secure environment for the people of Kosovo.
U.S. Army Maj. Austin Marshall, the Multinational Battle Group - East Engineer, and members of Joint Regional Detachment-North listen to the concerns of residents from villages near the administrative boundary line Aug. 5. The locals told KFOR that the obstacles they emplaced on the small road were too small for their personal vehicles, [? \?Y??H ?\? ?X?Y Z\???YY?H?[?[Y[? ???? L??