2023-05-30 16:20:07
It seems that the powder keg in the Balkans is regarding to explode once more, following clashes and tensions erupted in Kosovo, threatening to increase tensions.
The recent violence in Kosovo erupted once morest the backdrop of a long-running dispute over the rights of the Serb minority in the European country, threatening to end years-long efforts to normalize relations between the ethnic Albanian central government and Belgrade, which supports these Serbs, according to Bloomberg.
And on Monday, the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR) announced, in a statement, that regarding 30 of its members were injured in clashes with Serbs who went out to protest once morest Albanian officials assuming the positions of mayors in Serb-majority regions in the north. country.
Among those wounded soldiers were Italians and Hungarians, the mission said, “They were subjected to unprovoked attacks and were seriously injured, including fractures and burns due to the explosion of incendiary devices,” according to Archyde.com.
And it came to the announcement of the Serbian President, Alexander Vucic, to put his country’s army on high alert with the movement of its units towards the nearby border with Kosovo.
He called the Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, Kosovo to calm tensions with Serbia, calling on the two parties to engage in dialogue led by the European Union in order to resolve the dispute.
He wrote on Twitter: “Pristina must end the escalation and not take unilateral steps that would destabilize stability.”
Yugoslav legacy
The current tension may be considered the last remnant of the Yugoslav wars, in reference to the great country that was divided over the years into the countries of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Kosovo recently.
More than two decades following the war that ended in 1999, NATO intervention and the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo, the people of Serb origin in the north of the country do not yet accept Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, and consider Belgrade their capital.
According to Archyde.com, people of Albanian origin make up 90% of Kosovo’s population, numbering regarding 1.2 million people, with regarding 120,000 Serbs living among them.
Tensions increased last April, following local elections that the Serbs refused to participate in, following they demanded greater autonomy in their regions, so that Albanian candidates would win the elections in the municipalities, which the Serbs refused, of course.
And last Friday, the Kosovo authorities tried to accompany 3 mayors to reach their offices, but Serb demonstrators were waiting for them with stones, and the police confronted them with tear gas and water to disperse the crowds.
The police presence continued next to the municipal offices, and the clashes continued amid the presence of NATO peacekeepers, who were attacked by the Serb demonstrators.
After tensions reached a peak, on Friday, the Serbian president ordered the imposition of a state of high alert among the ranks of the army and ordered him to move to areas near the border with Kosovo.
According to Archyde.com, Serbia’s Defense Minister, Milos Vucevic, said in a televised speech, “I ordered an urgent movement (of troops) towards Kosovo’s borders. It is clear that there is terrorism once morest the Serb community in Kosovo.”
‘Violence will not prevail’
The police in Kosovo said that a number of its members were injured and 4 cars were attacked following demonstrators set them on fire.
According to Agence France-Presse, that NATO confirmed that it will deploy additional forces in Kosovo following the recent confrontations.
For his part, Blerim Vila, chief of staff to the presidency in Kosovo, accused “criminal and illegal entities of Serbia” of escalating tension and confronting law enforcement bodies.
“Violence will not prevail,” he said in a statement reported by Archyde.com. “Serbia bears full responsibility for the escalation.”
The United States condemned the violence, and the US ambassador to Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenir, wrote on Twitter: “We condemn the ongoing actions of the Kosovo authorities and their attempt to reach municipal buildings in northern Kosovo.”
While Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that “the Serbs are fighting for their rights in northern Kosovo,” and commenting on NATO’s 1999 intervention once morest Belgrade, he said, “There is a big explosion looming on the horizon in the heart of Europe, where in 1999 NATO launched an aggression once morest Yugoslavia,” the former, According to AFP.
Warnings of a “big explosion”.. Serbia moves its forces and scores of wounded in the international force in Kosovo
More than 30 members of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo were injured Monday during clashes with Serb demonstrators who demanded that Albanian mayors elected in a controversial ballot be banned from taking office.
Another major tension that erupted in August last year turned into civil disobedience following the Kosovo authorities told the Serbs in the north of the country that they should change their Serbian license plates and replace them with Kosovo ones.
The citizens rejected this demand for the simple reason that they do not recognize Kosovo, but consider themselves part of Serbia.
The authorities in Pristina were unable to implement the decision, and the European Union’s foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, confirmed at the time that an agreement had been reached regarding focusing on normalizing relations between Serbia and Kosovo, and not delving into side matters.
Since 2013, the two countries have been engaged in dialogue under the auspices of the European Union in order to resolve outstanding issues between them.
Kosovo is not considered a member state of the United Nations due to China and Russia’s support for Serbia’s position and its lack of recognition.
Russia, a staunch ally of Serbia, is facing strong criticism from Kosovo. According to the BBC, Kosovar President Vyusa Osmani said in remarks during the license plate crisis that Putin might use Kosovo to expand the current conflict in Ukraine and further destabilize Europe.
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