US (Washington Insider Magazine)— On Friday, Dozens of Iowa National Guard soldiers will leave for Kosovo as part of a collaboration and new North Atlantic Treaty Organization peacekeeping mission.
NATO as an alliance has been a vocal critic of Russia’s actions in Ukraine since the war there began on February 24, 2022, tempting the wrath of Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin and ushering various threats throughout the 22-month campaign.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed just before Christmas that the steps of NATO and Western partners have led to a “big strategic defeat” for Russia, adding that Russia “has lost Ukraine forever.” The U.S. has delivered more aid to Ukraine than any NATO member, though the war continues to be a stalemate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cautioned in October that Putin could be pursuing a diversion from his military command to the Balkans, where that month, a gun battle between Kosovo and Serbian agents led to the U.S. warning of increasing tensions and violence in the region.
“Thirty-three Iowa guardsmen, part of Detachment 1, Company C (Medevac), 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, will deploy on December 29 for a nine-month tour. The U.S. has an embassy in the city of Pristina.”
The primary purpose is to conduct live aerial medevac operations, refuelling and supervision support for the United States, Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) and the coalition formed between both entities over a decade.
Newsweek reached out to the Iowa National Guard and U.S. Air National Guard via email for comment, with the latter waiting for remarks from Iowa-based officials. Newsweek also reached out to the Kosovo Defense Ministry via email for comment.
The partnership was legislated on March 11, 2011, about three years after Kosovo announced its autonomy from Serbia and became recognised by the U.S. as an independent and sovereign country. Kosovo was earlier a province of Yugoslavia.
Deliberations for a formal, long-term partnership began in March 2011, some eight years after Iowa soldiers had helped Kosovo’s peacekeeping efforts.
In August of that year, a 13-member delegation from the southeastern European nation called Iowa for four days and gathered with then-Governor Terry Branstad, toured military facilities at Camp Dodge, spoke with Iowa State University officials in Ames, consulted with state health and agricultural leaders, and visited the Iowa State Fair, according to the Des Moines Register.
As part of an invitation by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Major General Stephen Osborn, the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, Vjosa Osmani, the president of Kosovo, traveled Iowa’s Camp Dodge in October to concern issues including global security and maintaining the National Guard’s military-to-military training.
Reynolds and Osborn travelled to Kosovo in June.”Partnerships like this one are the best example of what visionary leadership can do,” Osmani said. “Our partnership grows stronger by the day as we expand our cooperation in all areas of common and strategic interest, such as defence, agriculture, tourism and energy.”
It was her foremost visit to Iowa since being elected in 2021 and the first time a president of Kosovo had toured with the Iowa National Guard stateside since 2012.
In a report, the U.S. Air National Guard stated that Iowa guardsmen “made significant efforts to build ties” with the KSF in 2024, including Iowa airmen transiting to Kosovo in April for a large-scale medical training drill.
In November, Osborn said in Des Moines as part of an end-of-mission farewell event praising Artan Duraku, head of the Mission of the Consulate of the Republic of Kosovo. Osborn named Duraku “a key component of the strong relationship” between the Iowa National Guard and Kosovo.
This month, Kosovo Defense Minister Ejup Maqedonci encountered U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, whom he called “a great friend of Kosovo in the Senate and a big advocate of the Security Force.”
The pair discussed bilateral relations and a path forward for NATO integration. Friday morning’s event will be at the Waterloo Airport Army Aviation Support Facility, where a military plane will depart to Fort Cavazos, Texas, to conduct pre-mobilization training before heading to Kosovo.