700 MORE NATO TROOPS TO HELP QUELL VIOLENCE
Latest clashes between Serbs and ethnic Albanians leave 30 peacekeepers hurt, stirring fears of a renewal of conflict that claimed some 10,000 lives
Nato will send 700 more troops to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after clashes with ethnic Serbs there left 30 international soldiers wounded, the alliance has announced.
The latest violence in the region has stirred fears of a renewal of the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo that claimed more than 10,000 lives, left more than 1 million people homeless and resulted in a Nato peacekeeping mission that has lasted nearly a quarter of a century.
The clashes grew out of a confrontation that unfolded last week after ethnic Albanian officials elected in votes overwhelmingly boycotted by Serbs entered municipal buildings to take office. When Serbs tried to block them, Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
More violence followed on Monday when Serbs clashed with police and Nato peacekeepers.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said an additional reserve battalion would be put on high readiness in case more troops were needed.
“These are prudent steps,” said Stoltenberg, who made the announcement in Oslo on Tuesday after talks with the Norwegian prime minister.
The Nato-led peacekeeping mission in the region is known as KFOR and currently consists of almost 3,800 troops.
Also on Tuesday, KFOR’s multinational peacekeepers used metal fences and barbed-wire barriers to reinforce positions in a northern town that has become a hotspot. The troops sealed off the municipal building in Zvecan, where unrest on Monday sent tensions soaring.
A former province of Serbia, Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence is not recognised by Belgrade. Ethnic Albanians make up most of the population, but Kosovo has a restive Serb minority in the north of the country bordering Serbia.
Stoltenberg condemned the violence and warned that Nato troops would “take all necessary actions to maintain a safe and secure environment for all citizens in Kosovo”.
He urged both sides to refrain from “further irresponsible behaviour” and to return to EU-backed talks on improving relations.
The United States and most European Union nations have recognised Kosovo’s independence from Serbia while Russia and China have sided with Belgrade.
China on Tuesday expressed its support for Serbia’s efforts to “safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity”, and Moscow has repeatedly criticised Western policies in the dispute.
In response to the confrontation last week, Serbia put the country’s military on the highest state of alert and sent more troops to the border with Kosovo. The Serbs protested again on Monday, insisting that both ethnic Albanian mayors and Kosovo police must leave northern Kosovo.
The confrontations worsened when Serbs attempted to enter the municipal offices in Zvecan, 45km north of the capital, Pristina. They clashed first with Kosovo police and then with the international peacekeepers.
In a video message issued on Tuesday evening, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the mayors elected on April 23 “are the only ones who have the legitimacy to be at the municipal buildings and to the citizens’ service”.
Instigators of the violence have been identified, according to the prime minister, who named some Serb businessmen who oblige their employees to protest.
“In Kosovo, power is won through elections, not with violence and crime,” he said.
The US and the EU recently stepped up their efforts to negotiate an agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, fearing instability as Russia’s war rages in Ukraine.
The EU has made it clear to both Serbia and Kosovo that they must normalise relations if they are to make any progress towards joining the bloc.
“We have too much violence in Europe already today. We cannot afford another conflict,” the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told reporters on Tuesday in Brussels.
We have too much violence in Europe already today. We cannot afford another conflict
JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF