The escalation of violence in Kosovo and what Serbian President Vucic has to do with it The escalation of violence in Kosovo and what Serbian President Vucic has to do with it

The timing seems right: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is responding in the usual way to the escalation of violence in northern Kosovo. Alarmingly, he put the Serbian army on “highest combat readiness” over the Whitsun weekend and moved mobile units to the border. In an interview Monday night, Vucic stressed that Serbia “is not watching” and the events in Kosovo.

After fierce rioting in northern Kosovo on Monday afternoon, at least 34 NATO soldiers from the KFOR force were injured as they protected town halls in Zvecan and other communities against protests by Serbs, some of whom were militant. They used stun grenades and tear gas. The mob threw stones and petrol bombs at them and knocked down the cordon of the soldiers with batons.

The Serb protests over the Whitsun weekend were against the appointment of Albanian mayors, who emerged victorious from regional elections boycotted by Serbs. The Serbian side complained of more than 50 injuries in its own ranks.

After these riots, it is the second time in a few months that the Serbian president has deployed the army in Kosovo. Another part of the usual procedure is to step up international diplomacy at the same time.

Vucic wants to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Bratislava today to discuss the situation. According to their own announcement, there will be meetings tomorrow in Moldova with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović.

There is no doubt to international observers that Vucic is using the current situation in Kosvoso to divert attention from the difficult domestic political situation and to strengthen his weakened domestic position through foreign policy fortitude.

After the two massacres in the first week of May, Aleksandar Vucic is facing violent attacks from the opposition and massive popular protests. Just a few days ago, at the congress in Kragujevac, he resigned from the presidency of the Serbian Progressive Party SNS, but emphasized on Pink TV on Monday night that he would not allow himself to be “extorted” by the opposition.

In particular, he rejected the resignation of Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, who had come under criticism after the two rampages that killed a total of 18 people: “It’s a pointless demand, Gasic arrested all the killers,” Vucic warned before his resignation.

Almost in one breath, he congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his re-election, smugly remarking: “You see, some can still win elections after 20 years if they have done a good job for their people.” Vucic made it clear that he was not thinking about stepping down after 11 years: “During this time we have clearly won all the elections and I hope this trend continues.”

In any case, he would not allow himself to be beaten by the opposition, but would only resign of his own accord when he felt that he “didn’t have enough energy and strength left” for the office.

Alleged Serbian provocateurs among the protesters

Meanwhile, there are increasing signs that Vucic is not only using the violence in Kosovo to show his own strength, but is also using his own provocateurs to fuel it. One of the main attackers on the NATO soldiers in Zvecan was identified on social media as a Serbian police officer from the southern Serbian town of Rudare.

Other eyewitnesses to the events identified thugs from Veljko Belivuk’s Serbian gang among the protesters. The alleged mafia boss is on trial in Belgrade for multiple murders and organized crime. At a preliminary hearing two months ago, Belivuk admitted to having “done the dirty work” for President Vucic in the past, which the latter vehemently denies.

However, the extent to which Russia is directly involved in fueling the events in Kosovo and in the destabilization of the Western Balkans must remain a matter of speculation. The “Z” marks affixed to a US police vehicle belonging to the Kfor forces were probably more a sign of provocation to the foreign “occupation troops” hated by the Serbs than actual evidence of Moscow’s long hand.

Anyway, for the Serbian president, the source of all evil lies in the regime of Kosovo president Albin Kurti. He will not give up his “irresponsible provocations” and probably dreams of being “some kind of Selenski”, Vucic accused his opponent in Pristina and warned “for a big conflict, because I know that the Serbs cannot tolerate it”. .

Internationally, the mood has changed after Monday’s attacks and the wounded NATO soldiers against Serbia. At the end of last week, the US and the EU sharply criticized the Kosovo government for wanting to gain access to the town halls in North Kosovo with its own police force, now targeting the role of the Serbian nationalists.

German SPD politician Michael Roth, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, criticizes the events of the Whitsun weekend as the nadir of the Kosovo conflict: “The physical violence against KFOR soldiers by radical Serbs is enough. These riots are not only unacceptable, they must have consequences.”