Kosovo police in border area: Serbia puts troops on alert

Sunday, 26 September 2021

Kosovo police officers in the border area
Serbia puts troops on alert

After opposition from the Serbian minority, the government of Kosovo sends elite units to the border. Belgrade feels agitated by the move and retaliates.

Due to the deployment of special units of the Kosovar police in the border area, which is perceived as a “provocation”, Serbia has put its army on alert. After a “provocation” by special forces in Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic ordered some units of the Serbian army and police to be put on alert, the Defense Ministry in Belgrade said. The European Union and NATO called on both sides to exercise restraint.

Kosovo’s police special forces were previously deployed from two border crossings in the north of the country. The minority in the region is mainly members of ethnic Serbs who do not recognize the authority of the ethnic Albanian-led government in the capital Pristina.

Protest after license plate ban

The police units were deployed in accordance with an order from the Kosovar government, according to which motorists with Serbian license plates are obliged to put on provisional license plates when entering Kosovo. Hundreds of ethnic Serbs have protested the requirement every day since last Monday’s order and used vehicles to disrupt cross-border traffic.

From Belgrade’s point of view, license plates from Kosovo indicate its status as an independent nation. Kosovo broke away from Serbia in 2008. However, the government in Belgrade still does not recognize independence and treats Kosovo as a separate province. Serbia’s ally Russia, unlike most Western countries, including the United States, does not recognize Kosovo’s independence.

NATO calls for restraint

Kosovo’s President Vojosa Osmani canceled her visit to the United Nations in New York in view of developments in her country. Albania recently expressed concern about “aggravation of the situation” and called on Serbia to withdraw its troops from the border area.

EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell called on both sides to defuse the situation. The special police forces will have to be withdrawn immediately. “Any further provocation or unilateral and disorganized action is unacceptable,” he said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also called for restraint. “It is important that Belgrade and Pristina exercise restraint and resume talks,” he said on Twitter after a phone call with Serbia’s President and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti.