Militant Serbs block a road in the north of Kosovo, Serbia puts its army on alert, the Serbian head of government warns of armed conflict: the conflict over Kosovo, which has been smoldering for years, is intensifying.
What about the blockade? And what is behind the conflict? An overview:
What is the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia about?
After the collapse of the multi-ethnic state of Yugoslavia, there was a series of wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. Under President Slobodan Milošević, Serbia tried to incorporate areas into other republics that were mostly Serbs.
In Bosnia and Croatia in particular, but also in Kosovo, this led to ethnically motivated expulsions, extensive “ethnic cleansing” and war crimes.
To end massacres in the Serbian province of Kosovo, inhabited mainly by Albanians, NATO decided in 1999 to launch air strikes – the first combat mission by German soldiers after 1945. With the NATO intervention, Kosovo broke away from the Serbian state and finally declared independence in 2008 .
In the meantime, the country was administered by the UN mission Unmik. Today, 115 countries recognize Kosovo as independent, including Switzerland.
Serbia, on the other hand, refuses to recognize Kosovo and regards the country as a breakaway southern Serbian area. Abroad, Serbia is even aggressively campaigning for other states to withdraw recognition of Kosovo. In recent years there have been dialogues again and again, but without agreement.
The EU is demanding that Serbia recognize the country to join the international community. As part of the KFOR mission, NATO also provides soldiers to support public order in Kosovo.
Most of Kosovo is inhabited by Albanians, while Serbs mainly live in the north. Many of them do not recognize Kosovo’s state institutions.
Why are tensions rising now?
A few weeks ago, hundreds of Serbian police officers, judges, prosecutors and other officials stopped working in Kosovo, sparked by a dispute over car registration plates. Pristina had wanted to oblige members of the Serbian minority to no longer drive with Serbian license plates, but to accept those issued by the Republic of Kosovo. The license plate rule was postponed, but Serbian police and officials did not return to work.
Government plans to hold local elections in Serb-majority areas on December 18 had to be postponed. The main Serbian party announced its boycott, and as election authorities were about to start preparations earlier this week, shootings and explosions erupted.
Subsequently, from December 10, hundreds of Kosovo Serb militants set up roadblocks north of the divided city of Mitrovica, blocking roads to the border crossings into Serbia. They were protesting the arrest of a former police officer of Serbian descent who Kosovo authorities say led attacks on Election Commission officials.
How has the situation developed in recent days?
Tensions have also increased at the border. Police officers were shot at night and the troops of the EU mission Eulex were also attacked with a stun grenade. Last Sunday, several Serbian media outlets released a video in which gunshots could be heard. According to reports, “fighting” took place in the early evening. The Kosovar armed forces allegedly tried to dismantle a barricade previously erected by Serbs.
This was immediately denied by the Kosovo police. Instead, according to Kosovo media, a Kosovo Peacekeeping Force (KFOR) patrol was in the shooting range. The NATO-led mission expanded its presence in the region a few days ago. She initially declined to comment on the incident.
This Tuesday, militant Serbs also set up barricades in the divided city of Mitrovica. Several trucks carrying stones and sand have been blocking one of the entrances to a Bosnian-inhabited neighborhood since Tuesday morning, the city’s Serbian-language news portal “kossev.info” reported. The militant Serbs demand, among other things, the release of the arrested former police officer.
What is the Kosovo government doing?
The Kosovar government had stated that it could not engage in dialogue with “criminal gangs”. In Mitrovica, however, freedom of movement must be restored and barricades removed, as demand arises.
She also warned that Kosovo police were able and willing to act. But they are waiting for NATO peacekeeping force KFOR, which has a neutral role, to comply with Kosovo’s request to remove the barricades.
How is the Serbian government responding?
The Serbian Defense Ministry announced on Monday evening that President Aleksandar Vučić was convinced that the Kosovo government was preparing an attack on the Serbs in the region and wanted to remove the barricades by force. “There is no reason to panic, but there is cause for concern,” the ministry said. Vučić again put the Serbian forces on edge.
He also sent army chief General Milan Mojsilović to the border on Sunday evening after media reports of alleged fighting. The situation on the border is “complicated and complex” and requires “the presence of the Serbian army in the coming period,” Mojsilovic said.
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić warned of further escalation in northern Kosovo and blamed the Kosovo government for the tensions. “We are really on the verge of armed conflict,” she said in Belgrade on Wednesday.
The government in Belgrade supports the militant Serbs in northern Kosovo, who are mostly recruited from the criminal environment and the secret service. Vučić repeatedly fuels tensions in Kosovo through these informal structures. In the past five years, he had put the Serb forces on alert six times. In all cases, however, this had no effect.
(dpa, afp, reuters, cck)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
