“All the legitimate rights and interests of Kosovo Serbs must be respected,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, stressing, “We offer our unconditional support to Serbia and Serbs.”
Peskov warned of “provocative actions” that would prejudice the rights of Serbs, and expressed the Kremlin’s “concern” about the situation in Kosovo.
Tension prevailed in northern Kosovo on Wednesday, as hundreds of ethnic Serbs gathered outside the town hall, after clashes with peacekeepers earlier this week.
Clashes erupted last week after Albanian officials, elected in an election boycotted by most Serbs, entered the municipal buildings to carry out their duties.
When the Serbs tried to stop them, the Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse them in Zvešan, which led to clashes with NATO-led forces that left 30 of its soldiers wounded.
NATO decided to send an additional 700 troops to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after Monday’s clashes.
NATO peacekeepers insisted that ethnic Albanian mayors and Kosovo police leave northern Kosovo.
Serbia has put the country’s army on high alert and sent more troops to the border with Kosovo.
“The security situation is very precarious because of the unilateral, illegal and illegitimate decisions taken by the administration in Pristina,” Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic told Serbian state television RTS on Wednesday.
He added: “First, we should call the situation by its proper name and try to define it as the occupation of northern Kosovo by the Albanian administration in Pristina.”
Serb officials have long warned that Serbia will not stand idly by if the Serbs in Kosovo are attacked.
Belgrade did not recognize Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008. The ethnic Albanians make up the majority of the population, but Kosovo includes a Serb minority that raises unrest in the north of the country bordering Serbia.
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