AGI – The United States invites “Serbia to withdraw troops gathered on the border with Kosovo.” “We are seeing a major Serbian military operation along the border with Kosovo,” including the “unprecedented” deployment of artillery, tanks and infantry units, said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
Kirby declined to comment on the risk of a possible invasion of Kosovo, whose independence Serbia does not recognize and which is in crisis very strong tensions for a few days. He stressed that “due to recent developments, KFOR,” the force stationed by NATO in this former Serbian province, will “increase its presence” in the north of the territory.
Kirby could not say whether this was simply a transfer of KFOR troops to northern Kosovo or a net increase in the number of troops stationed by that force.
Washington calls the leaders of Belgrade and Pristina
The official reported that the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken the Serbian president called on Friday Aleksandar Vucic to express to him American “concern” and “underline the need for an immediate reduction in tensions and a return to dialogue.” America’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.
Serbia refuses to recognize the independence its former Albanian-majority southern province proclaimed in 2008, a decade after a deadly war between Kosovo guerrillas and Serb forces.
A Kosovar Albanian police officer was killed Sunday in an ambush in northern Kosovo, where Serbs make up the majority in several towns. There was a shootout between special units of the Kosovo police and a heavily armed Serbian commando. This is one of the most serious escalations in Kosovo in recent years.
A politician admits responsibility for the attack
Milan RadoicicVice President of the party Srpska list The representative of the Serb minority in Kosovo claimed responsibility for the clash between a group of armed men and police officers last weekend in the north of the country, in which four people were killed, including an officer. This was reported by the politician’s lawyer, who claimed that he led the command in response to the alleged oppression of the Serbs by the Pristina government.
Radoicic insisted that he acted alone and without the support and consent of Belgrade. “I have not informed anyone in the power structures of the Republic of Serbia or in the local political structures in northern Kosovo,” he wrote in a letter read by his lawyer Goran Petronijevic at a press conference in Belgrade.
“The policeman’s death was an accident and a fierce clash ensued in which our three comrades – the heroes – gave their lives for freedom and for the preservation of Kosovo,” he added, referring to the three men of the Commandos killed in this action. “We are not terrorists, we are fighters for the freedom of our people,” he concluded, while also announcing his resignation from Srpska Lista.
Stoltenberg: Additional forces authorized to “handle the situation”.
NATO is ready to strengthen the personnel of the KFOR force stationed in Kosovo to “deal with the situation that has arisen.” “The NATO Council has authorized additional troops to deal with the situation,” alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement.
The text does not specify what type of forces could be deployed if necessary, but the British Ministry of Defense stated that a battalion of around 500 to 650 men had been made available to KFOR in Kosovo should the need arise. This battalion, the first battalion of the Royal Princess of Wales Regiment, “recently arrived in the region” for long-planned exercises, the British ministry added.
“We will always take all necessary measures to ensure a safe environment and freedom of movement for all people living in Kosovo,” recalled Stoltenberg.
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