Further escalation in Kosovo – local special forces used force against Serbian protests against Albanian mayors taking office. The number of victims already amounts to several dozen. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic delivered an urgent address to the nation. On Tuesday, he also scheduled a number of meetings: first simultaneously with the ambassadors of the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy, then separately negotiations will take place with representatives of Russia and China.
Violent Serb clashes took place on Monday with Albanian special forces and a NATO contingent, who came to the defense of officials who were not even elected. Sticks and stones were thrown at the security forces who, in turn, used tear gas and opened fire.
As a result of clashes with the police, more than 50 Serbs were injured, three of them seriously. Journalists also needed help.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic sent an army to the border with Kosovo on Friday. For its part, NATO has increased the presence of its blue helmets in the region.
The riots that started on Friday have continued today. At first, everything was peaceful. Protesters sang songs and handed out chocolate to police officers, mostly ethnic Albanians.
The reason for the protests was the election results in four municipalities in Kosovo. Ethnic Serbs, who make up 90% of the population in the north of the region, refused to vote. As a result, the Albanians came to power, the elections were declared valid, despite the turnout of only three and a half percent.
“Everything is happening because of the provocative actions and terribly irresponsible behavior of Albin Kurti. I fear general insecurity, instability and further aggravation of the situation, because I know that the Serbs will not stand it. I also know that this is all the fault of Kurti, who does not want to back down and dreams of being a local Zelenskyy,” Vučić had said the day before.
The parallel with Ukraine was pursued by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who arrived on a working visit to Kenya. Responding to a question in connection with the events in Serbia, the minister accused the West of supporting separatism. And he recalled how, ten years ago, the European Union proposed the so-called Charter of the Community of Municipalities of Northern Kosovo, which would guarantee the right of Serbs to their mother tongue and to their representation in governments premises. However, none of this was done – the document suffered the same fate as the Minsk agreements, Lavrov stressed.
The worsening of the situation in northern Kosovo coincided with the destabilization of the political situation. On Friday, a so-called rally of hope was held in Belgrade, supposedly in response to actions organized by the opposition. Vucic himself, who had previously announced the threat of a color revolution in Serbia, despite the pouring rain, spoke without an umbrella. He called for dialogue with the opposition and announced that he was leaving the post of president of the ruling party.
His successor – not yet in the leadership of the country, but in the organization of party work – Vučić appointed the country’s Defense Minister Milos Vučević. The latter said that the tension in Kosovo had reached its peak and could degenerate into an armed conflict.
“Serbia fully supports the idea of peaceful dialogue and does not want the conflict to escalate. We do not want wars and we do not play war games. But what Kurti is doing brings us to the red line , and everyone in the international community should know that,” Vucevic said.
This time around, the crackdown on protesters in northern Kosovo has been condemned even in countries that normally support a partially recognized republic. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused Kosovo authorities of creating tension and called for an immediate end to the violence. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meanwhile said that Pristina should not take destabilizing unilateral steps. But so far, there is no indication that anyone will listen to him.
“Belgrade recommended not to participate in the vote, believing that the elections would not take place. But even three percent suited Kurti… I think Kurti is taking steps so that this whole predicament will lead the Serbs to make concessions and then be expelled from this area,” explained Elena Guskova, head of the Center for the Study of the modern Balkan crisis at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
One of the demands of the demonstrators is to remove the Kosovo flag, which one of the officials has already hastened to hang. After meeting with the US ambassador, who has also spoken out against the takeover of government buildings, the mayor said he would take office. Whether or not it worked has not been reported.
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