Clashes erupted on Friday between Serbs and Kosovar police in three localities in northern Kosovo.
The Serbian army will remain, “until further notice” in “state of maximum alert” near the border with Kosovo, announced Saturday, May 27, the office of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. A statement that comes the day after clashes that broke out in three localities in northern Kosovo, mostly Serbs. On Friday, the special forces of the Kosovo police dispersed with tear gas Serbs who wanted to prevent the Albanian mayors, elected in April during a controversial election, from taking office in these three municipalities.
> > What we know about renewed tensions on the border between Kosovo and Serbia
On Friday, in the wake of these incidents, Aleksandar Vucic ordered the army to be on high alert and to “get in motion” in the direction of the border with Kosovo. On Saturday morning, he chaired a meeting of the Committee for National Security which adopted a plan for“security activities (…) aimed at strengthening Serbia’s defense capabilities”announced the presidency in a press release.
In recent years, the Serbian army has been placed on alert time and time again in similar situations. For their part, the Kosovo special forces, which allowed the new mayors to enter the offices on Friday, remained in place on Saturday, near municipal buildings in Zvecan, Leposlavic and Zubin Potok, reported an AFP journalist. . These city councilors were elected in the elections organized by the Kosovo authorities on 23 April. But the poll was boycotted by the Serbs.
Tensions that worry Western countries
These tensions arouse the concern of the international community. The United States, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany asked in a statement on Friday (link in English)to the Kosovo authorities “to immediately reconsider their decision” to deploy their special forces, adding to be as “concerned by Serbia’s decision to raise the level of readiness of its armed forces”. NATO also called on Saturday “the institutions in Kosovo to an immediate de-escalation” And “all parties to resolve the situation through dialogue”To tweeted (link in English) Alliance spokesperson Oana Lungescu.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti replied in a statement that does not suggest a step backwards. The latter explained that the authorities in Pristina understood “concerns” of their “international partners”but that “any other option would amount to not fulfilling the constitutional obligations”.
It must be said that tensions are recurrent in this part of the former Serbian province whose independence, proclaimed in 2008, has still not been recognized by Belgrade, which encourages Serbs living in Kosovo to challenge the local government. In total, some 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, which has a population of 1.8 million, the vast majority of whom are Albanians.