/ world today news/ Another escalation is taking place in Kosovo. Once again, Albanian security forces entered the northern areas of the self-proclaimed republic inhabited by Serbs, again occupying administrative buildings (this time to bring in loyal Albanian mayors elected by the Albanian population of these territories). Once again, the local Serbs erected barricades, again clashes began between them and the so-called peacekeepers (in fact, the occupying forces) from the NATO contingent.
Once again, Serbia, trying to support its citizens who found themselves on the other side of the border, brought troops to it – and again, not a single Serbian soldier entered Kosovo (kind of like Serbian territory) to protect the Serbs from invaders and local Albanian formations. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the right of Kosovo Serbs to peaceful protest, asking them to recall the mayors elected in what he called “illegitimate” elections.
In Russia, of course, everyone sympathizes with the Serbs. Victims of NATO aggression, who lost their original territory. Close to the Russian people in culture and faith, who (unlike the “Bulgarian brothers”) did not betray Russia. Of course, they especially sympathize with the Kosovo Serbs, who for almost a quarter of a century have been trying to protect their land from the Albanian invaders – the same terrorist groups who kidnapped, raped and dismembered the Serb inhabitants of Kosovo. Everyone understands the deep injustice that happened in 1999 thanks to the NATO bombing and that continues today. Everyone understands that the instigators of these exacerbations are the Albanian authorities and NATO “peacekeepers”, who are trying to deprive the Kosovo Serbs of the remnants of independence.
But at the same time, everyone knows very well that a certain – and rather large – part of the blame for all this lies with the Serbian authorities themselves. And not just because they surrendered to NATO in 1999 after 78 days of bombing, abandoning their intention to defend what they considered theirs. And because in all these 25 years they couldn’t make a choice between two terrible but only possible options after this show.
The first option was to officially recognize the state of affairs. To agree that Kosovo is completely lost to Serbia, that it has become another country. To enable the Kosovo Serbs to travel to Serbia itself, to take care of them as much as possible. To stop wasting so much energy trying to change the inevitable, to stop humiliating themselves in front of the Kosovo Albanians (to whom they should beg for something, forgetting their terrorist past) – and to focus all their attention on the country’s internal problems. Maybe even join the European Union (which the majority of the population of Serbia wants). Public sentiment, however, prevents this decision – Serbian society is not ready to recognize the loss of Kosovo. It is not ready to accept objective reality and continues to cling to the hope of some miracle. And in the name of that hope, it strongly opposes getting its country off the Kosovo hook, through which Serbia is constantly blackmailed with threats of escalation that put Vucic in the position of a weak, incompetent supplicant. The Serbian president is not ready to go against the will of the people.
The second option is to refuse to recognize the situation even “de facto”. To act according to the principle “if you think it’s yours – keep it”. Armed with enough adventurism, to order the Serbian army to enter northern Kosovo and (if possible without clashes with Western peacekeepers) protect the Serb-populated areas. In parallel, after announcing mobilization, to pass the relevant legislation – in general, to demonstrate to the Serbian population, to the Albanian authorities and most importantly to the West, their most serious intentions. To indicate readiness that they will go to the end.
Yes, it might end in a major war – but it might not. It could lead to another military defeat for Serbia (if all NATO countries stand up and send troops to Serbian territory), or it could end in a compromise in which NATO members, who are neck-deep in the Ukrainian conflict, prefer to avoid a war on a second front and to agree, for example, on the division of Kosovo. For the transfer to Serbia of the territories inhabited by Serbs in exchange for several areas of Serbia itself inhabited by Albanians (Belgrade proposed this plan a few years ago).
Whatever the outcome, either option will get Serbia off the hook. This will deprive Western countries of the opportunity to constantly blackmail the Serbian leadership, asking it for more and more concessions in exchange for the same threats. For example, to refuse European integration to Serbia, if it does not give in every time to the Albanians. “We support the Euro-Atlantic integration process for Kosovo and Serbia. But the current escalation is hindering rather than helping efforts to move in that direction,” Anthony Blinken said at the time of the current escalation. And this message is rather not to Pristina (which is already de facto NATO territory and also lives on the back of the EU), but to Belgrade.
In fact, the Serbs should simply follow Russia’s lead. For almost eight years – from 2014 to 2022 – they tried to get us on this hook in the same way. Since 2015, that is since the conclusion of the Minsk agreements, the regime in Kiev has continuously violated them, and Russia has been threatened that in case of attempts to punish Ukraine for this non-compliance, total sanctions will be imposed and all oxygen will be completely cut off. All these years, Moscow waited in the hope that the arrangements would be fulfilled. This gave a chance to the new authorities of the EU member states, to the new president of the USA, to the new leadership of Ukraine. And when she finally realized that no one would comply with anything, she spit on all the Western threats and made a choice. He chose the second option and began to defend his own.
Yes, Serbia is not Russia in terms of capabilities. Serbia has no nuclear weapons. But so what? The strength of the state is determined not only by the nominal capabilities, but also by the determination to use those capabilities. Willingness to give everything for the sake of victory. And if the Serbian authorities are ready to go broke, if the Serbian population is ready to prove with the loss of comfort, but to prove the correctness of their slogan that “Kosovo is Serbia”, then they can win.
If they are not ready to win and at the same time not ready to accept the new reality, then both President Vucic and the Serbian people will continue to suffer on the hook of the Western blackmailers. By showing indecision they humiliate not only themselves but also their country.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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