2023-06-03 15:05:55
Next to the Ukraine war, it is THE trouble spot in Europe: the Kosovo conflict!
After the recent riots in the Kosovo powder keg, NATO is now increasing its troop presence by several hundred soldiers.
The responsible command in Naples, Italy, announced that it would send several units from readiness to the small Balkan country. Military circles in Brussels said it was a contingent of around 700 men. Means: massive increase!
Another battalion of the operational reserve is placed on standby. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: “NATO will remain vigilant.”
Around 3,800 soldiers from the NATO-led KFOR protection force are currently stationed, including around 70 Germans.
KFOR soldiers are resting in front of the Zvecan town hall, where massive riots broke out on Monday – the “Z” on the wall is also interesting, which the Russians used as a recognition symbol during their attack on Ukraine. The fact is: there are many Putin sympathizers among the militant Serbs
Background: Serious riots broke out in the Serb-populated north of Kosovo on Monday. Militant Serbs attacked KFOR troops with incendiary devices and stones in the village of Zvecan. They used tear gas and stun grenades.
► Sad conclusion: 30 Italian and Hungarian soldiers and more than 50 Serbs suffered injuries.
“The risk of local escalation is considerable,” explains Dr. Konrad Clewing from the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies to BILD.
A little all-clear: “An action by official Serbian units against KFOR – i.e. beyond the Serbian border in Kosovan territory – remains unlikely.”
Massive KFOR troop movements in Kosovo on Friday – a picture from Zvecan, one of the places where the trouble spot flared up again last Monday
Kosovo accuses Serbia of organizing riots
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti (48) has meanwhile accused the Serbian government of being behind the riots in the north.
Plain text: “The escalation on May 29 was planned, well organized and had an originator,” said Kurti on Friday in parliament. “This originator is officially Belgrade.”
And further: Serbia had mobilized “criminal groups” that had provoked the clashes, said Kurti. Many Kosovo Serbs were forced to serve as “human shields” in the attacks. One thing is clear: These are serious allegations against Serbia.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti (centre) shares responsibility for the conflict
The trigger for the violence was the appointment of ethnic Albanian mayors in Serb-majority cities by the Kosovan government. Serbian residents of the region protested violently; however, the Serbs had previously largely boycotted the local elections and cast no votes.
USA and France blame Kosovo for tensions
The West contradicts Kurti! After the clashes, Western states have blamed the Balkan country’s government for the tensions.
“The measures taken by the Kosovar government have created this atmosphere of crisis,” said US Ambassador to Pristina Jeffrey Hovenier.
Hovenier said Kosovo would now be excluded from a joint military exercise. The “Defender 23” maneuver, in which 20 countries take part from April to June, is affected. “For Kosovo, this exercise is over,” he said.
KFOR units are currently entrenched in northern Kosovo, wanting to offer as few targets as possible
Emmanuel Macron (45) also said that the Kosovan authorities “clearly have a responsibility for the current situation”. “We have made it very clear to the Kosovar authorities that it was a mistake to hold these elections,” the French President said on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the governments of Kosovo and Serbia on Thursday to take “immediate steps to de-escalate tensions”.
Serbs carry a giant Serbian flag through Zvecan last Wednesday
Scholz: The aim is to “get out of this spiral again”
Macron announced on Thursday that he and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (64, SPD) had called on the presidents of Kosovo and Serbia to hold the new elections “as soon as possible” with a “commitment” on the part of Kosovo and a “clear turnout” on the part of Serbia.
Such a decision would be “the strongest step” to resolve the current tensions, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Talking and mediating: Macron and Vucic on the left, Scholz and Vjosa Osmani, President of Kosovo on the right – at least at one table
“It is now important that everyone involved does everything to ensure that there is a de-escalation,” said Scholz. It is also important that local citizens “can participate in the elections”. The goal is to “get out of this spiral”.
Vucic expressed confidence in finding a solution with Kosovo. “We want to find a compromise,” he said. And further: He is optimistic “to de-escalate the situation”. He also wanted to hear and “include” the suggestions from Scholz and Macron.
Responding to the demands of Germany and France, Kosovo’s President Osmani said she was “ready” to “consider” this possibility.
Meanwhile, Kosovar Albanians were also protesting in northern Kosovo – here a demo in South Mitrovica
The Kremlin is also getting involved
Russia is also getting involved and is siding with the Serbs.
“We support Serbia and the Serbs unconditionally. And we believe that the legitimate rights and interests of the Kosovo Serbs must be respected and protected,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
Russia will continue to monitor the situation very closely. Translated, this means that the Putin regime reserves the right to react if Serbia’s interests are neglected.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had previously called the escalation of the conflict in Kosovo alarming. Russia’s Foreign Ministry called on the EU not to blame Serbs for the violence.
► The fact is: Russia is interested in the conflict in the Western Balkans continuing to smolder. Because: he keeps the EU and NATO in suspense – while the Ukraine war continues to be fueled. Means: only Putin benefits from the Kosovo powder keg, nobody else.
“Lavrov’s statements that the current situation in Kosovo is threatening an explosion in the center of Europe are alarming,” explains Jakov Devcic, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Belgrade office, when asked by BILD.
And further: “It is important to prevent further destabilization of Europe on the southern flank through further escalation in Kosovo.”
Because the worst case would occur “if there were fatalities due to a renewed escalation of violence. Then civil war-like conditions in the north of Kosovo and thus a major conflict cannot be ruled out. However, such an escalation would destabilize the entire Western Balkans and thus also Europe,” said Devcic.
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