The US had threatened “punitive measures” against Belgrade after what the White House called an “unprecedented” troop concentration
Your browser does not support HTML5
Withdrawal of most troops from the border with Kosovo. This is Serbia’s decision. This was announced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. According to him, any military action would be counterproductive: Serbia does not want war,” Vucic told the Financial Times. (KOSOVO, THE USA ALARM)
The situation
The United States had threatened “punitive measures” against Belgrade after the White House reported an “unprecedented” concentration of Serbian troops and tanks on the border with Kosovo. Yesterday, a Kosovo government official quoted by the Guardian confirmed Serbia’s partial withdrawal, although Belgrade would continue to maintain a significant military force in the region. The withdrawal came after a public statement of concern from the White House and a stern appeal to Vucic from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In-depth analysis
Kosovo, US alert: “Serbia is gathering troops at the border”
About 24 years have passed since then NATO forces are located in the area of Kosovo. It was the June 12, 1999 if, on a UN mandate, the Kfor (Kosovo Force), an international military force led by the Atlantic Alliance with the task Maintaining peace and order in the country. Those who belonged to KFOR were 11 Italian soldiers were injured in the conflicts with the Serbian minority North Kosovo on Monday May 29th (in the picture)
Go to the photo gallery
The first invasion of Kosovo by NATO troops was motivated by the grave Humanitarian crisis that the area experienced towards the end of the last century, when every day the military of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia collided with the KLAKosovo Liberation Army. The tensions that underlay this crisis were the same ones that continue to worry us today: the Contrast between the ethnic Serbian population and the ethnic Albanian population. In the photo: KFOR trucks on the way to Kosovo, June 12, 1999
Go to the photo gallery
Parallel to the founding of KFOR in Kosovo 1999 passed under the international protectorate of the United Nations. There were years of relative calm, although incidents of ethnic violence continued. The mission was named at NATO headquarters Operation Joint Guardian and it has had that name since the end of 2004 Operation Joint Enterprise. In the photo: an Italian KFOR soldier, Djakovica, July 9, 1999
Go to the photo gallery