/ world today news/ Pogroms in Kosovo again: local Serbs are detained and beaten by Albanian separatists who try to push them against the fighters of the NATO countries. Unarmed people bravely face heavily armed soldiers. Why these clashes do not stop from Belgrade, how the West tries to make the president of Kosovo “its own” and how Russia prevents them, read in the material of “Tsarigrad”.
There has been no such escalation in Kosovo since 2004, when the local Albanians organized a large-scale bloody pogrom. Houses and Orthodox churches were burning, the crowd was killing everyone it could reach.
But in the northern end she did not succeed – the Iber river prevented them. The local Serbs stood up to defend their homes, and then were separated from the raging Albanians by the fighters of the NATO contingent KFOR (translated from the English Kosovo Force – “Forces for Kosovo”).
Still, a lot of blood was spilled. Mostly Serbian. But the aggressors also got it. Since then, the region’s Serbian municipalities of North Mitrovica, Leposavich, Zvecan and Zubin Potok have lived relatively autonomously from the rest of Kosovo, where Western-backed Albanians have firmly established themselves.
In the north, the Serbs had their own municipal government and police, nominally Kosovar but recruited from non-Albanians. But Kosovo’s “police”, made up of ex-combatants and terrorists, were only allowed to visit the north with the permission of KFOR.
In 2013, with the mediation of the European Union, the Brussels Agreements were signed, according to which Pristina undertook to create a Community of Serbian Municipalities, which would include not only the enclaves in the north, but also other regions of Kosovo.
However, the leadership of the Albanian separatists inadvertently and falsely sabotaged this decision. And that day he decided to completely purge the northern enclaves by outlawing the local Serbian authorities.
30 days to refresh
New Albanian mayors were appointed in Pristina in simulated local elections, deliberately sabotaged by the Serbian community. Armed to the teeth fighters of the “Kosovo Special Police ROSU” then invaded the enclaves against the rules.
They tore down the Serbian tricolors and in their place hung blue regional flags invented by their Western curators. In response, Serbian residents mounted the barricades.
KeyFOR units were sent to help them – after a barrage of criticism from all sides that they were not fulfilling their duties to maintain order. And Belgrade sent units of the Serbian army to the administrative borders of the region.
“In just one day, Kosovo fighters arrested two of our brothers for 30 days – allegedly driving a car with Slovenian number plates and preparing terrorist attacks. For Serbian symbols, they gave air freshener. Two more were locked up at the border. A 16-year-old teenager was detained, beaten and released “, say outraged Serbs.
Provocation under smoke
The residents of Zvečan greeted the invaders with a 250-meter long national tricolor and put yellow bands on their sleeves, showing that they lived in a ghetto.
At the same time, Albanian “special forces” under the cover of a smoke screen, “randomly” attacked KFOR fighters with stun grenades, which the Serbs perceived as an attempt to push them head-on against the alliance fighters. However, the street video cameras working on the spot brought to light the adventure of the Albanian fighters.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in a special address to fellow citizens, called for no resistance to KFOR. He appealed to the ambassadors of the countries of the “Quint” – USA, France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain, who also control the situation in the Balkans, as well as to the leader of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with a request to influence the “prime minister” of the Kosovo Albanians Albin Kurti and force him to remove the militants from northern Kosovo.
Vucic also met with the Russian ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko. And, speaking on CNN, the Serbian leader told the American public that his compatriots
“They just want to survive, keep their names and surnames and live where they’ve always lived,” he said.
Why Belgrade doesn’t work
At the same time, mass actions of the opposition are taking place in Serbia itself, including those dissatisfied with the soft involvement of official Belgrade in the situation. The Serbian Minister of Defense, Miloš Vucevic, explained on the air of the TV channel RTS more demonstrative than real participation in the defense of the relatives of Kosovo:
From a political point of view, Serbia has defined red lines when its vital, national and state interests are threatened.
We are talking, God forbid, about scenarios in which someone kills, expels Serbs, organizes pogroms. Such situations would not only be a wake-up call, but also a moment when Serbia will not be able to sit idly by.
In turn, a number of Albanian organizations announced the “March to the North” campaign, offering their supporters to “walk” to the northern enclaves, taking with them gas masks and street fighting equipment. In response, President Vucic criticized Kosovo’s “prime minister” Albin Kurti on television:
“Due to Kurti’s provocative statements and terribly irresponsible behavior, I stay away from major confrontations. Because Kurti dreams of being Vladimir Zelenski, and the Serbs can’t take it anymore.”
As you can see, this comparison with Zelenski shows which side Vucic is on today. But not everything is so simple.
Will there be a war?
The situation in Kosovo has led a number of experts – both Balkan and international – to suggest that things are heading for a war that will affect everyone in Europe. And they were quick to give Kosovo the challenging title of “powder keg” of the Old World.
“Tsarigrad” talks about the next round of confrontation over Kosovo with HSE (Higher School of Economics of the Russian Federation) professor, head of Black Sea and Mediterranean studies at the Institute for Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ekaterina Entina.
– In your opinion, could what is happening these days in Kosovo develop into a full-fledged war?
– The situation must be considered in two planes. First: the possibility of large-scale conflict. It is excluded for two reasons. Belgrade doesn’t want that because a Serbian soldier crossing the demarcation line between central Serbia and the province of Kosovo and Metohija would trigger a “disproportionate response” from KFOR.
And with a high degree of probability, Serbia will be subject to sanctions. Thus, for Belgrade, any compromise for Kosovo and Metohija, for Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be completely closed.
The last thing Vucic will do, if at all, is to respond to provocations, no matter how severe, by launching military action.
– The North Atlantic Alliance also does not need a large-scale conflict. They believe that they will achieve their goals even without him – by pressuring Belgrade.
– Yes, for the last 20 years, NATO and the EU have officially been the guarantors of peace and stability in the Balkan region, and the emergence of a large-scale conflict will collapse this notion of peace and stability.
The only power now capable of causing a major war is NATO, and the alliance, I repeat, does not find it profitable. Therefore, a large-scale conflict is not expected.
– Then what can the current escalation of violence in Kosovo lead to?
– No one can guarantee that more serious clashes will not start between the Serbian and Albanian populations. In fact, this is exactly what is happening right now, and it is the most dangerous factor in Kosovo and Metohija. Especially in the last year.
President Vucic agreed in March, albeit verbally, to a plan proposed by France and Germany for a new round of talks between Belgrade and Pristina.
He suggests that the region of Kosovo and Metohija will have the opportunity to become a member of international organizations, including the United Nations. This makes the outcome of any negotiations predictable.
Kosovo Albanians understand what gives them a free hand with regard to domestic violence against Serbs. Therefore, we will see many more provocations against the Serbian population.
– What are the ultimate goals of these processes?
– There is an official goal, it was proclaimed at the level of the EU, NATO and the countries of the Quintet – it is the settlement of relations between Belgrade and Pristina by recognizing the independence of Pristina from Belgrade.
There is also a second goal: the completion of the Euro-Atlantic project in the Balkans. In this sense, the next step should be the inclusion of the self-proclaimed Kosovo in NATO.
Vucic will be pressed
– Pristina has already applied for membership in the Council of Europe, advanced in negotiations with the EU.
– There is still an obstacle for the province’s integration into international structures in the face of five EU and NATO countries that do not recognize Kosovo’s independence.
Now the West, even against its charter, which does not allow a country with territorial problems and the potential for future wars to join the alliance, is ready to force the inclusion of the breakaway province from Serbia under the pretext of protecting the Kosovars “from Serbian aggression “.
The creation of a situation of escalation of tension makes it possible for the region to be impromptuly accepted into NATO, and then entry into other international organizations will be open for it.
– It is no coincidence that along with the escalation in Kosovo, mass protests against the current government are taking place in “greater” Serbia.
– These protests have serious internal political reasons of an objective nature. Including those related to the aforementioned negotiation plan adopted by Vucic. This is one of the main reasons for growing discontent.
There are also social and economic problems. I doubt that the West’s goal is to remove Vucic. Rather, they want to make the Serbian president more compliant.
What of this?
We often wonder where the West will open a second front against Russia. In fact, he is ready to open it wherever historically and situationally the interests of the Russians come into sharp conflict with the plans of the New World Order. And the Balkans is one of these areas.
According to the expert Ekaterina Entina, Russia will either gain a lot or lose a lot depending on how the events of the theater of military operations in Ukraine develop. And the Kosovo issue as part of the Balkan issue is directly related to this.
The West fears that after the completion of the CSTO, the question of reviewing the results of the war in Yugoslavia will be raised.
And it is quite obvious that if this problem is not solved before the completion of the SVO, in the framework of the negotiations for a new geopolitical map of Europe, the Balkan and Serbian questions will be raised by Moscow. And then Vucic will demand that Moscow stand up for the Serbs and return their lands to them. What is the West afraid of, and especially the “new Zelensky” Kurti.
Translation: SM
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