Tension rises on the border between Kosovo and Serbia

A patent dispute between the Balkan nations of Kosovo and Serbia, from which Kosovo broke away 14 years ago, sparked protests and gunshots Sunday night, sparking fears that violence could climb while Western countries focus on the war in Ukraine.

Amid protesters building barricades, unknown gunmen fired at Kosovo police officers along the disputed northern border with Serbia on the eve of a new law requiring ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo to change vehicle license plates from Serbs to Kosovars in the next two months.

Many Serbs in Kosovo still use patents issued by Serbs, which the government considers illegal.

The Kosovo government also said that as of Monday all holders of Serbian ID cards and passports must obtain a additional document to enter Kosovo, just as Kosovars have to do to enter Serbia.

No one was injured by the gunshots, but in response to the violence, Kosovo police closed two northern border crossings.

“The next few hours, days and weeks could be challenging and problematic,” said the Prime Minister of Kosovo. Albin Kurtyin a video posted on its social channels.

Similar plate protests erupted a year ago, but observers say tensions are higher this time due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which consumes the spotlight of Kosovo’s most important ally, the United States, as well as the European Union. .

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nine years after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign drove Serbian forces out of the former province.

Serbianas well as its main allies, Russia and Chineseit still refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence and insists on protecting it ethnic relatives Serbs, who make up about 5% of Kosovo’s population of 1.8 million people.

Just under half of Kosovo’s Serbian population lives in four northern municipalities on the border with Serbia, and many have been reluctant to recognize the authorities in the Kosovo capital. pristinepreferring to live as if they were still part of Serbia.

The European Union has mediated negotiations between the two governments since 2011 and slowly the police, courts and municipalities have come under the control of Pristina.

But, encouraged by the political leadership of Belgrade, the Serbian capital, the Serbian nationalists protest against any further attempts at integration.

“We will pray for peace and seek peace, but there will be no surrender and Serbia will win,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at a press conference on Sunday.

“If they dare to persecute, mistreat and kill the Serbs, Serbia will win,” he continued, adding later:

“We have never found ourselves in a more difficult and complicated situation than the present one”.

Vucic, who called a high-level meeting of military and security officials on Sunday evening, said the Kosovar government was trying to put him in the same light as the Russian president. Vladimir Putin, blaming the riots on Serbia’s close relationship with Russia, a Slavic country. and Orthodox Christian nation.

The Kosovo leader, Vucic said during Sunday’s press conference, was trying to tap into the world atmosphere by projecting that “the great Putin gave orders to little Putin, so the new Zelensky, in the form of Albin Kurti, will be a savior. and will fight against the great Serbian hegemony ”.

Vladimir Djukanovic, a member of the Serbian parliament from Vucic’s ruling party, also linked the border dispute to the war in Ukraine, tweeting:

“It seems to me that Serbia will be forced to start the denazification of the Balkans, “a threatening reference to Russia’s justification for the invasion of Ukraine.

Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, has maintained close ties with Moscow and has not adhered to Western sanctions against Russia, although it voted in favor of a UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Belgrade and Moscow share animosity for the NATO military alliance due to the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, when Vucic was the spokesman for the Serbian strongman. Slobodan Milosevic.

NATO still maintains a peacekeeping presence in Kosovo, with a strength of approx 3,700 soldiers.

In a press release, NATO said its force on the ground is “ready to intervene if stability is in danger”.

After a meeting with the US ambassador on Sunday evening, the Kosovo government announced that it would delay the implementation of the license plate and identity card decisions by one month.

Russia promptly intervened on Sunday, calling the badge and identification laws “another step to expel the Serbian population from Kosovo,” Russian news agency TASS reported.

“We ask Pristina, the United States and the European Union to do this stop the provocation and respect the rights of Serbs in Kosovo, ”said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Kosovo’s northern border with Serbia has been a center of violence in the past. In 2011, when Kosovo police tried to take full control of the area, a Kosovo police officer was killed and 25 others were injured.

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