The White House on Friday called for the withdrawal of Serbian forces along the border with Kosovo. The directive is intended to refocus attention on a long-standing territorial dispute that Western officials fear is at risk of boiling over again.
John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the Biden administration, condemned a Sept. 24 attack on a Serbian Orthodox monastery in northern Kosovo in which more than 30 ethnic Serb gunmen fought against police, killing a Kosovo police sergeant and, as Mr. Kirby said, peacekeepers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stationed there were at risk.
“Everyone involved in this attack must be brought to justice,” Mr Kirby told reporters.
The days since the attack have been marked by finger-pointing between Serbian leaders and authorities in Kosovo, who publicly accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic of supporting the gunmen. American officials, including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, have called on both governments to refrain from doing anything that could lead to further conflict. But Serbian forces continued to mass near the border, a development that Mr. Kirby described as “destabilizing.”
Kosovo, where the majority of the population are ethnic Albanians and Muslims, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after the NATO bombing campaign that drove Serbian forces responsible for years of brutal abuse of ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo. Since then, there have been disputes between the two countries over the treatment of the Serb minority in Kosovo. Belgrade has never officially recognized Kosovo’s independence.
Fighting broke out in the spring when the Kosovo government deployed its security forces in several cities to install Albanian mayors who won local elections. The local Serbs largely boycotted these votes. But U.S. officials say the presence of Serbian troops on the border represents a dramatic and worrying escalation.
The White House did not say Friday whether tensions were likely to spill over into military conflict, but regarding the attack on the monastery, Mr. Kirby said it was obvious to U.S. officials that the operation was well organized. He said the gunmen had access to more than a dozen SUVs carrying weapons with “alarming sophistication” – a sign that significant resources were behind them.
“This is not the type of attack that is carried out randomly or ad hoc or by a small group,” Mr Kirby added. The quantity and type of weapons found posed a threat not only to Kosovo personnel, but also to international personnel, including NATO troops.
Mr Kirby said there would be an increase in NATO troops in the region and on Friday Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s secretary general, said it was “ready to make further adjustments to KFOR’s posture if necessary”, using an acronym for used the NATO-led peacekeeping mission, which has been operating in Kosovo since 1999.
U.S. officials, including Mr. Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, reached out to Serbian and Kosovo leaders on Friday to express their concerns and call for diplomatic dialogue, Mr. Kirby said, citing “progress.” of crucial importance on the diplomatic front”.