The United States claims to have detected a “significant deployment” of Serbian troops on the border with Kosovo. They demand the withdrawal of this army. NATO is ready to reinforce its troops on site.
Climbing in the Balkans. This Friday, September 29, a White House spokesman calls on “Serbia to withdraw troops gathered on the border with Kosovo.” “We are witnessing a significant Serbian military operation along the border with Kosovo,” including the “unprecedented” use of artillery, tanks and infantry units, said John Kirby, spokesman for the United States National Security Council.
John Kirby noted that American diplomatic chief Antony Blinken called Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday to express U.S. “concern and the need for an immediate reduction in tensions and a return to the to highlight dialogue”. American National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
John Kirby declined to comment on the risk of a possible invasion of Kosovo. 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. He could not say whether this was simply a redeployment of KFOR troops to northern Kosovo or a net increase in the number of soldiers deployed by that force.
NATO, for its part, said on Friday it was ready to reinforce KFOR personnel. “Yesterday (Thursday), the North Atlantic Council (NATO’s policy-making body) authorized additional forces to deal with the situation,” Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement on Friday. The text does not specify what kind of forces could be deployed in case of need, but the British Ministry of Defense for its part stated that a battalion of about 500 to 650 men had been made available to the Kfor in case of need in Kosovo. “We will always take all necessary measures to ensure a safe environment and freedom of movement for all people living in Kosovo,” recalled Jens Stoltenberg in this press release.
Tensions between the two countries have been rising since the death of a Kosovo police officer on Sunday September 24th. The Kosovo prime minister immediately condemned an attack by Serbian-backed “organized crime,” while the Serbian president denounced “lies.” The police officer was killed while on patrol near the border with Serbia. He was moving near a road that was reportedly blocked when, according to police, his unit “came under attack from various positions with heavy weapons, including grenades.” This was followed by a shootout lasting several hours between the Kosovo police and a heavily armed commando of several dozen men who had barricaded themselves in a monastery. Three of them died, three were arrested and the fate of the others is unknown. Kosovo assures that several in Serbia are being treated in a hospital in the south of the country.
Relations between the two former enemies have continued to deteriorate since a conflict that left 13,000 people dead, mostly Kosovar Albanians. Serbia, supported in particular by its Russian and Chinese allies, refuses to recognize the independence declared in 2008 of its former province, whose 1.8 million inhabitants, mostly of Albanian origin, include a Serb community of around 120,000 people, mostly in Serbia live in northern Kosovo.
This region is therefore the scene of recurring violence, most recently since the spring, when the Kosovo authorities decided to appoint Albanian mayors in four municipalities with a Serb majority. It sparked one of the worst episodes in years, with protests, Serbia’s arrest of three Kosovar police officers and a violent uprising by Serbian demonstrators that left more than 30 peacekeepers injured. NATO.