Serbian troops marched on the border of Kosovo. The Foreign Minister compares her country with Ukraine. Traffic light politicians warn of escalation and want more German soldiers in Kosovo.
Pristina – Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz believes an attack by Serbia on her country is possible. Dem Deutschlandfunk (DLF) She said on Monday (October 2nd): “The Serbian threat must not be accepted.” Most recently, the USA reported an “unprecedented” Serbian military presence on the border with Kosovo. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (B90/Greens) demanded: “The troops at the border must be reduced by Serbia.” Representatives of the traffic light parties spoke out in favor of strengthening the Bundeswehr contingent in the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping forces in Kosovo.
Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti presents evidence of Serbian “annexation” plan
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of wanting to annex northern Kosovo, which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Serbs. Kosovo police confiscated documents showing that the “terrorist” attack on Kosovo police officers in Bajnska was “part of a larger plan to annex northern Kosovo.”
On September 24, an approximately 30-man combat squad led by Serbian nationalist politician Milan Radoicic attacked a police patrol and stormed the Banjska monastery. Three fighters and a Kosovar police officer were killed.
According to Prime Minister Kurti, the attack served to create “corridors” to Serbia for “supply of weapons and soldiers”. Serbia has now assured that the number of soldiers at the border is back to a “normal” level. Chief of General Staff Milan Mojsilovic said the number of soldiers on the border with Kosovo had been reduced from 8,350 to 4,500. In the DLF the Kosovo Foreign Minister compared the current situation in Kosovo with that in Ukraine in the winter of 2021. If Serbia were allowed to deploy troops, there would be “a war in the Balkans”.
Expert: Serbian President Vučić aims for “long-term destabilization of Kosovo”.
Kurti distributed drone footage via X (formerly Twitter) that is supposed to show combat command exercises. The paramilitaries created these themselves and they were confiscated by the Kosovo police. The Kosovo Interior Minister explained: The exercises took place at the Serbian military base Kopaonik near the border and in Pasuljanske Livade, one of the largest military training areas in Serbia. “The attacks happened with the full support and planning of the Serbian state,” Kurti wrote.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is aiming for a “long-term destabilization of Kosovo,” said political scientist Vedran Dzihic from the University of Vienna on the TV station ORF3. He is certain that the paramilitary attack “could not have been carried out without the knowledge of the Serbian state and the Serbian secret services.” The expert still does not assume that Vučić has any intention of invading Kosovo. This would make “Serbia a de facto pariah state in the middle of Europe”. This would also mean that any chance of Serbia joining the EU would be off the table. Vučić needs the conflict with Kosovo to hide domestic political problems, explains Dzihic.
Strack-Zimmermann: “There is still a lot of room for improvement” in the Bundeswehr in Kosovo
NATO recently announced reinforcements for KFOR peacekeepers. According to a spokesman, 600 British soldiers will be stationed in Kosovo. The chairwoman of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), pointed out in the news magazine Mirror responded that there was “still a lot of room for improvement” in the Bundeswehr’s involvement in Kosovo. The mandate for the German KFOR contingent, which was last extended in May, includes 400 soldiers. According to the Bundeswehr, there are currently only 80 in Kosovo.
The SPD foreign politician Adis Ahmetovic called for the mandate to be increased. The European Committee chairman Toni Hofreiter (Greens) also spoke out in favor of “more German soldiers” in Kosovo. The defense policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Florian Hahn (CSU), accused the federal government of being complicit in the escalation. “The traffic light has unnecessarily given up Germany’s long-standing and successful leadership role in the Western Balkans,” he told the Mirror.
The vast majority of Kosovo’s 1.8 million inhabitants are ethnic Albanians. There are also 120,000 Serbs who live mainly in the north of the country. In 1999, Kosovo broke away from Serbia with the help of NATO. The country’s declaration of independence from Serbia followed in 2008, but Belgrade does not recognize it. Five EU states, including Russia and China, do not recognize Kosovo’s independence. (with dpa and afp)
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