After violent riots: NATO now sends 700 extra soldiers to Kosovo

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Following the recent riots in Kosovo, NATO has expanded its presence by several hundred soldiers. The responsible command in Naples, Italy, announced on Tuesday that it would send several units on standby to the small Balkan country. According to military circles in Brussels, it involved a contingent of about 700 men. About 3,800 soldiers from the NATO-led security force KFOR are currently stationed in Kosovo. Another battalion from the operational reserve will be put on standby, the statement said.

Serious riots broke out in the Serb-populated north of Kosovo on Monday. Militant Serbs attacked KFOR troops with firebombs and stones in the village of Zvecan. They used tear gas and stun grenades. 30 Italian and Hungarian soldiers and more than 50 Serbs were wounded.

The Serbs in the north of Kosovo have been protesting for days against the appointment of new mayors. The province, now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, declared independence in 2008. To this day, Serbia has not recognized this move and is demanding the return of its former province.

Kosovo, a country of 1.8 million people, the majority of whom are ethnic Albanians, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade still considers it a Serbian province to this day. About 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, most of them in the north of the country. The demonstrators demand the withdrawal of Kosovar security forces from the region and the resignation of ethnic Albanian mayors. (SDA/AFP)

Source: Blick