Kosovo conflict: Germany and France want to mediate

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According to the German government spokesman, Scholz and Macron are planning a joint meeting with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “It is the intention to do this meeting together with Emmanuel Macron,” said the spokesman. The four politicians will meet on Thursday in the margins of the meeting of the European Political Community in Moldova.

Like the United States, France blames Kosovo for the escalation of the situation. Macron said on Wednesday Kosovo authorities “clearly have a responsibility for the current situation”. The US Ambassador to Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, had previously stated: “The actions of the Kosovo government (…) have created this atmosphere of crisis in the north.”

He also said that Kosovo would now be barred from a joint military exercise. The Defender 23 maneuver, in which 20 countries participate from April to June, is affected. “For Kosovo, this exercise is over,” he told local media.

In March, Brussels announced that the governments of both countries had reached an agreement to normalize their relations. However, this has not yet been signed by Belgrade or Pristina. Macron criticized Pristina for not fulfilling this agreement.

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, mainly in the north. Other countries, including Serbia’s allies China and Russia, also do not recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Serb protesters in Zvecan on Wednesday displayed a Serbian flag more than 200 meters long, stretching from the administration building to the center of the city. They also carried a flag in honor of Belgrade-born tennis star Novak Djokovic. At the French Open, he wrote a message on a television camera describing Kosovo as the “heart of Serbia”.

According to an AFP journalist, KFOR soldiers formed a ring around the building and also closed off the perimeter with a metal fence and barbed wire. The demonstrators also hung Serbian flags on the fence. Three Kosovo police vehicles were seen in front of the building.

The protest broke out later, according to an AFP journalist. However, according to the state television channel RTS, the return of the demonstrators is expected on Thursday. They demand the withdrawal of Kosovo’s security forces from the Serb-majority region and the resignation of ethnic Albanian mayors.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti last week appointed the mayors to their offices – in defiance of demands from the EU and the US to ease tensions in the region.

This was preceded by local elections by the Kosovo authorities in April. However, the Serbs largely boycotted the elections, leading the Albanian minority to take control of municipal councils despite a turnout of less than 3.5 percent.

Violent clashes broke out between protesters and soldiers of the international security force KFOR during protests in Zvecan on Monday. 30 of the soldiers were wounded. The US and EU strongly condemned the violence and NATO responded by strengthening KFOR. 52 protesters were also injured.

(SDA)

Source: Blick