Tensions flared between Kosovo and Serbia over the weekend, raising concerns in the NATO about the possibility of new unrest in the Balkans, at a time when the Western allies are focused on the war in Ukraine.
The international peacekeeping force of the NATO in Kosovoknown as KFOR, said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the situation, and that it is “ready to intervene if stability is jeopardized”.
Serbs in the northern municipalities of Kosovo, which border on Serbian and share their customs and nationality, cut routes and they clashed with the police on the eve of the implementation of a law that requires them to replace their license plates with plates from Kosovo.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has awakened the Serbian nationalist and revisionist worldview, in particular in President aleksandar vucicwhich has the support of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in that speech.
“no one was injured in the protests on Sunday”, highlighted the police of Kosovo, even as shots were heard in various places, some of them aimed at police units. Protesters parked trucks and other heavy machinery on roads leading to two border crossings.
The rule was due to take effect on Monday, and requires holders of Serbian identity cards and passports to obtain an additional document to enter Serbia. Kosovoas is already the case for Kosovars entering Serbian.
Josep Borrell, the highest diplomat of the European Unionwelcomed Kosovo’s decision to delay the measures until September 1 and called for all roadblocks to be removed immediately.
And in a statement posted on Twitter, the European Union’s special envoy, Miroslav Lajcak, expressed his thanks to the US ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey M. Hovenier, “for their strong support.” A brake for Russia advancing through Serbia.
is that the country is a traditional ally of Russia Y Vladimir Putin, which has turned down the EU invitation. and the United States to join the sanctions against Moscow. And Russia, together with China, still they do not recognize the independence of Kosovothe one that came after the Balkan War.
In 1999, the NATO launched a bombing campaign against targets in what was then the combination of Serbia and Montenegroin an attempt to stop Serbia’s attack on ethnic Kosovar Albanians fighting for autonomy.
A result that today Putin objects: Your spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, accused Kosovo of using the new license and identity document laws as a step to expel the Serb population from Kosovo.
“We call on Pristina (the capital of Kosovo), the United States and the European Union, so that stop the provocation and respect the rights of Serbs in Kosovo,” he said. And he described the requirements as “discriminatory.” Same argument that motivated the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Image gallery
