The situation worsened after the swearing in of local government leaders in northern Kosovo, elected in April elections. The vote was ignored by the Serbian population. Serbs have responded to attempts by unrecognized Kosovo authorities to take control of town hall and municipal buildings with protests and building barricades. On the Pristina side, police special forces were used, which used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the Serbs. The number of victims in the riots amounts to tens.
As a result, representatives from Pristina were able to raise the flag of Kosovo in a number of municipalities. Kosovo Serbian leader Goran Rakic called on Belgrade to immediately suspend any dialogue with Pristina until all Kosovo police forces are withdrawn from the north of the Republic of Kosovo. Belgrade emphasizes that the aggravation of the situation occurred not only because of Pristina’s aggressive actions, but also because of the inability of international security forces under the auspices of NATO to fulfill their obligations. In fact, NATO members ignored “the aggression of Kosovo security forces and could not prevent the seizure of municipal buildings by Pristina”. The Serbian army was put on full alert and army units were sent to the Serbian-Kosovar border.
Further escalation in Kosovo comes against the backdrop of political changes in Serbia. President Aleksandar Vučić has resigned as leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. From now on, the political force will be led by Defense Minister Milos Vucevic. One of his first statements on the situation in Kosovo was a warning against the threat of a “total breakdown of dialogue” between Belgrade and Pristina. Vučević confirmed that Serbian army units were taking positions on the border with Kosovo and underlined that Belgrade “does not want to play any war games, but the red lines for Serbia are known”.
He also said that the unrecognized Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, “engages in terrorist activities against the Serbian population”, while trying to “present himself as a victim”. Kurti, according to Vucevic, wants “to rid Kosovo of Serbs, even a small number of whom in the province are unacceptable to the current Kosovo authorities”. Furthermore, the new party leader assured his supporters that he would focus on “preserving and respecting the traditional values of the Serbian people” and would advocate the preservation of Kosovo and Metohija as part of Serbia.
Further escalation in Kosovo comes amid political changes in Serbia
Changes to the leadership of the ruling party were announced at a rally in the Serbian capital. According to observers, this event demonstrated that President Vucic continues to enjoy broad support among the Serbian population, which encourages his policy of “preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country”. Faced with the hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Serbian president who have taken to the streets of Belgrade, the opposition’s protests seem much less convincing. At the same time, Vucic is under serious pressure from Western countries, especially for his reluctance to join anti-Russian sanctions. The worsening situation in Kosovo, according to a number of experts, was another attempt to undermine the position of the Serbian president.
Moscow observes with concern the worsening of the situation in Kosovo and Metohija. As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out, Kosovo Albanian radicals continue “the persecution and violence against the indigenous Serbian population” with the aim of “subjugating the non-Albanian northern regions”. . In Smolenskaya Square, they strongly condemned Pristina’s provocative moves, stressing that the responsibility lies “entirely with the United States and the European Union”.
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