2023-05-30 17:04:37
The announcement shows some concern from the international community. NATO announced on Tuesday the deployment of additional forces in Kosovo, after clashes that injured around thirty international soldiers on Monday. Thirty members of KFOR, an international force based in Kosovo, were injured on Monday in clashes with Serb demonstrators.
“A measure of caution”
“The deployment of additional NATO forces in Kosovo is a prudent step to ensure that KFOR has the capabilities it needs to maintain security in accordance with the mandate given to us by the United Nations Security Council. ‘UN,’ Admiral Stuart B. Munsch said in a statement.
A territory of the former Yugoslavia landlocked between Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia, Kosovo declared its independence in 2008 but is still considered a Serbian autonomous province by Belgrade. This state, populated mainly by Albanians, is recognized by a hundred countries, including most Westerners and recently by Israel.
Albanian mayors in towns with a Serb majority
At the heart of these new tensions, the refusal of the Serb minority to recognize the authority of mayors of Albanian origin in towns in the north of the country, a region populated mainly by Serbs. The latter boycotted the ballot, which resulted in the election of Albanian mayors with a turnout of less than 3.5%.
These city councilors were enthroned last week by the government of Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, ignoring calls for appeasement launched by the EU and the United States.
On Monday in Zvecan, a town in northern Kosovo, Serb demonstrators were initially repelled by Kosovar forces who used tear gas. KFOR then tried to separate the two parties before starting to disperse the crowd. Protesters responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the soldiers.
Nineteen Hungarian and 11 Italian soldiers were injured in the clashes, KFOR said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that they suffered in particular from “fractures and burns caused by improvised incendiary explosive devices”. “Three Hungarian soldiers were injured by firearms,” according to the same source.
At least 52 people were injured in the ranks of the Serb demonstrators, three of them seriously, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Five Serb demonstrators suspected of having participated in the clashes have been arrested, according to Kosovo police. Belgrade has ordered the Serbian army to be placed on high alert, as has been the regular case in recent years.
On Monday, Serbian tennis world No. 3 Novak Djokovic aroused the anger of Pristina, the Kosovo capital, by writing: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia, stop the violence! “, on a camera after his victory in the first round of Roland-Garros.
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