Serbia has withdrawn some of its troops from its border with Kosovo after the US warned it faces punitive measures over what the White House described as an “unprecedented” buildup of Serbian troops and armaments.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that he had ordered the withdrawal of troops. In a statement to the Financial Times, he said any military action would be counterproductive, adding: “Serbia does not want war.”
A Kosovo government official confirmed a partial Serbian withdrawal on Saturday. It removed troops and equipment that had been moved to positions around the border over the past five days, leaving a still-significant force permanently based in the region.
The withdrawal came after a public statement of concern from the White House, a stern appeal from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Vučić and the reinforcement of the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo, Kfor, with hundreds of British troops.
In his conversation with Vučić, Blinken called for “immediate de-escalation” and a return to his previous agreement to normalize relations with Kosovo.
According to Vučić, Blinken said that there could be US measures against Serbia if he does not comply. “I said that you are a superpower and you can do and say whatever you want, but I am completely against that. I think it would be very bad,” the Serbian president told the Tanjug press agency.
On Saturday evening, the German ambassador to the US, Andreas Michaelis, described the situation as “another powder keg in Europe” and a serious danger.
Michaelis said on social media that there had been “very close cooperation between Germany and the USA in the last few days and hours,” which was “absolutely crucial to avoiding further escalation.”
“Serbia must act now,” said Michaelis.
The U.S. warnings came at the end of a week of tension that began with an ambush by well-armed Serbian paramilitaries on a Kosovo police patrol that left one police officer dead. In the ensuing battle near the village of Banjska, three Serbian gunmen were killed.
The armed group was led by Milan Radoičić, deputy leader of the Serbian List, a Belgrade-backed party that represents the Serb minority in northern Kosovo. Through a lawyer, Radoičić said he was responsible for the shootout with Kosovo police, but did not explain where the modern weapons carried by Serbian paramilitaries came from.
The Kosovo government presented a document purporting to show that the group had received a grenade launcher from the Serbian army, and officials in Pristina expressed concern that Sunday’s shooting was intended to be used as a pretext for a Serbian military intervention in northern Kosovo .
Serbia declared a day of mourning for the three dead Kosovo Serbs, and Vučić falsely claimed that Kosovo’s armed forces were conducting a “brutal ethnic cleansing campaign” against ethnic Serbs.