Time.news – New tensions have arisen between Kosovo and Serbia and there are those who fear an armed clash between the two countries. The Serbs do not accept the new measures launched by Pristina on the ban on Serbian identity documents and number plates in Kosovo starting from Monday 1st August.
NATO has announced that it is ready to intervene with KFOR if stability in the country becomes “at risk”.
— @NATO – KFOR (@NATO_KFOR) July 31, 2022
“Outlawed” Serbian groups have opened fire on Kosovar police on the border with Serbia: Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said so, according to reports from the Turkish news agency Anadolu.
“Serbia has never been in such a complex and difficult situation: we have had talks with representatives of the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija and we will try to keep the peace. But I ask the Albanians to change their position and the Kosovo Serbs not to give in to provocations, “Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a speech to the nation.
Kosovar Special Forces police are deployed to Serb settlements in northern Kosovo. pic.twitter.com/A8cDSfgKRS
– The Druse (@Eldruso) July 31, 2022
According to the Russian agency Tass, which quotes the newspaper Vecherne Novosti, the special forces of Kosovo have been moved from Prisitina to the north and to Metohija, where protests by Serbian citizens are underway.
[❌] Special units of the Kosovo police are leaving Pristina in northern Kosovo, according to witnesses.
⚡According to posts on social media, gunfire is heard in Kosovo.
Kosovo police say they came under fire, no injuries pic.twitter.com/lKOgoBiMe7
— UNCOVER infos™ ️ (@william_jengu) July 31, 2022
Earlier it was reported that the Serbian population of Kosovo and Metohija protested on the main highways of the region, started building barricades, several dozen people blocked the main road between Pristina and Raska. Special units of the Kosovo police, present on the streets, began to retreat to the surrounding villages when the citizens’ rally began.
Warning sirens sound in Mitrovica. pic.twitter.com/5hWWieXUZ7
– The Druse (@Eldruso) July 31, 2022
Sirens are sounded in the northern part of the town of Kosovska Mitrovica. Subsequently, information appeared about sirens sounded to Zubin Potok. According to Serbian media, around 200 Albanians gathered on the Albanian side of the bridge connecting the north and south of Kosovska Mitrovica.
The Kremlin: “Stop the provocations”
Russia calls on the authorities in Pristina, as well as the United States and the European Union, which support them, to stop the provocations and respect the rights of Serbs in Kosovo. This was stated by the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova. “We ask Pristina, the United States and the EU, which support it, to stop the provocations and to respect the rights of the Serbs in Kosovo,” Zakharova said in a note reported by Tass.
“The leaders of the Kosovars know that the Serbs will not remain indifferent when it comes to a direct attack on their freedoms, and they will prepare for a military scenario,” Zakharova added.
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also stressed that such a development of events “is another proof of the failure of the EU mediation mission.” This is also an example of the place that was prepared for Belgrade in the European Unioneffectively offering Serbia to put up with the lack of rights of its compatriots “.
NATO ready to intervene
NATO is ready to intervene in the north of Kosovo with its own mission Kosovo Force (KFOR) if its stability is “at risk”: thus a note released by the Atlantic Alliance regarding the growing tensions between Kosovars and Serbs, which have broken out due to a Kosovo law that bans Serbian identity documents and number plates in Kosovo from today.
“The overall situation regarding security in the municipalities of northern Kosovo is tense. The KFOR mission led by NATO – it reads – is closely monitoring and is ready to intervene if stability is in jeopardy, according to its mandate, deriving from the United Nations Resolution 1244 “.