Putin is trying to destabilize European countries to divert attention from Ukraine, warns the president of Kosovo. The words were said at the security conference in the city of Munich. She accused the Russian president of trying to cause conflict in her country, Moldova and Georgia
On the eve of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there are ominous warnings that the conflict in Ukraine could spread to other countries. The US fears that China is considering entering the war as an active partner on Russia’s side and will soon begin sending arms to the Russians, and there is concern that Vladimir Putin is increasing efforts to destabilize other countries, from Moldova to the Western Balkan countries.
The president of Kosovo, Visa Osmani, said at the Munich Security Conference: “What Putin is trying to do is to divert the attention of the West from Ukraine,” she told the Sky News network. “The way he will be able to do this is by creating other conflicts in Europe, whether we are talking about Moldova, Georgia or the Western Balkans.”
She also said that Putin is trying to create a conflict in the Balkans. He is trying to drag Kosovo into war through his ally, Serbia. Russia is using the same methods it used in eastern Ukraine to ignite a civil war and destabilize the country back in 2014. “They tried to create false operations,” she said. “They bring paramilitary forces dressed as civilians inside our territory in illegal ways, then send weapons and green uniforms without insignia so it doesn’t look like a military attack.”
Kosovo gained independence after the Kosovo War that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia and the intervention of NATO in the 1990s. Several countries, including Serbia, still do not recognize Kosovo. Kosovo, in turn, accuses Russia of helping Serbia to foment separatism among the ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo. While the West discusses how to end the war in Ukraine, the president of Kosovo warns against any territorial compromise with the Kremlin: “Regimes that commit genocide should not be rewarded,” she said.