2023-06-01 22:38:04
The commander of the NATO peacekeeping forces in Kosovo, General Angelo Restuccia, said that the situation is very dangerous in Kosovo, and that any incident might lead to an escalation, while the Serbs continued their demonstrations in protest once morest the assumption of office by Albanian mayors in the north of the country.
Restuccia added – in an interview with Al-Jazeera – that a solution must be found that will bring the two parties back to negotiations.
In response to a question regarding Russia’s position on what is happening in Kosovo, the NATO military commander said that Moscow does not know anything regarding what is happening on the ground.
He stressed that had it not been for the intervention of the NATO peacekeeping forces, the situation would have worsened and got out of control, stressing that these forces played a major role in keeping the situation under control, revealing that the Secretary-General of NATO had agreed to bring in additional forces to Kosovo.
These statements come at a time when citizens of the Albanian nationality demonstrated in northern Kosovo, rejecting what they described as the violence of Serbian gangs once morest the police and peacekeeping forces.
On the other hand, Serb demonstrators continued their movement opposing Albanian mayors taking office in northern Kosovo, which recently witnessed clashes with the NATO peacekeeping force, and dozens of Serbs gathered once more Thursday near the municipal building, but their number was less than what was recorded in the past days.
Since last May 26, Kosovo Serbs in the north of the country have been organizing protests to prevent newly elected Albanian mayors from entering municipal buildings to start their duties.
Mayors took office following winning local elections organized last May in 4 municipalities – most of whose residents are Serbs – who largely boycotted the elections, and only 1,500 voters out of 45,000 registered participated in the poll.
international pressure
Under pressure from France and Germany, Kosovo President Vyosa Osmani met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for a short period in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on the sidelines of a summit in Moldova.
Osmani called on Serbia to stop its destabilizing activities in its country and to stop supporting “criminal gangs”, while Vucic stipulated the withdrawal of mayors in northern Kosovo to ease tensions.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo to reduce tension, warning that they threaten hopes of joining Europe.
“We call on the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to take immediate measures to de-escalate tensions,” Blinken told reporters during NATO talks in Oslo on Thursday.
“We support the process of Euro-Atlantic integration of Kosovo and Serbia, but the current escalation hinders more than helps efforts to move in that direction,” he added.
The United States criticized – earlier – Kosovo following it supported it for a long time, following the decision of Prime Minister Albin Kurti to appoint Albanian mayors following the Serb voters boycotted local elections in the northern regions where they constitute the majority.
“We have made our concerns clear regarding some of the steps that have been taken, and we have said this directly to the relevant leaders, including Prime Minister Kurti,” Blinken said.
Blinken warned of “unilateral actions” taken by any party following Serbia declared a state of alert in the ranks of its army, and said that the European future would meet “the aspirations of people in both countries.” He added, “If any country takes steps that would eliminate this possibility, it will not be in the interest of their people.”
And the international peacekeeping forces – led by NATO in Kosovo – intensified the deployment of its elements in the four municipalities that are witnessing unrest between the Serb minority and the Pristina government (in the north of the country), with the European Union’s foreign policy official warning of the seriousness of the situation.
1685665712
#commander #NATO #forces #Kosovo #warns #imminent #escalation #clarifies #Russias #position #News
