Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosova
| Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosova Forcat e Armatosura të Republikës së Kosovës |
|
|---|---|
| Participant in the Kosovo War | |
| Active | August 1998 – 1999 |
| Leaders |
Tahir Zemaj † Bujar Bukoshi Sali Çekaj † |
| Area of operations | Kosovo |
| Strength | 200 – 300 officers, 3000-5000 soldiers |
| Opponents |
 Kosovo Liberation Army Yugoslavia
|
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosovo (AFRK; Albanian: Forcat e Armatosura të Republikës së Kosovës (FARK)) was a paramilitary organization, a military wing of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the main right-wing party in Kosovo established by Ibrahim Rugova and Bujar Bukoshi. It was active during the Kosovo War (1998–99).
Bujar Bukoshi, the former Prime Minister in exile of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosova from 1991 to 2000, created the FARK in Albania with a few dozen former Kosovo Albanian officers of the Yugoslav People's Army gathered by Sali Cekaj. He then put it under the command of former colonel Ahmet Krasniqi. Most of the FARK members were then loyal to the President of the Republic of Kosova, Ibrahim Rugova, while the rival group Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA/UÇK) was led by Hashim Thaçi, a man who had earnt credibility among separatists due to the alleged shortcomings in FARK's achievements.
Bukoshi, while spending most of his time in Bonn, Germany, had been a representative for the Kosovo Albanians from 1991, the year they tried to proclaimed independence, to 1998. On 2 April 1999, as Rugova had then been sidelined by recent developments, Hashim Thaçi proclaimed himself Prime Minister in his place, while Bukoshi refused to recognize him and hand over the funds he had received from the Albanian Diaspora in the West. As a representative of Rugova, Bukoshi received regular contributions from the diaspora for his "Republic of Kosova Fund" which had been spent to finance the parallel government of Kosovo under Rugova, with a network of private schools and health care centers. The KLA then created its own fund, Atdheu Thërret ("The Motherland calls"), both funds now being used to buy military equipment.
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