Following several weeks of steadily rising tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, the Serbian army has asserted that it has reached its “highest level of battle readiness.”
Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, has stated that he will “take all means” to protect the Serbian people and the country itself.
The saber-rattling is more audible than it has ever been, and it comes as a response to assertions made by some media outlets in Serbia that Pristina is preparing “an attack” on ethnic Serb communities located in the north of Kosovo.
Regarding the charges, the government in Pristina has not provided any statement whatsoever.
However, it has previously accused Mr. Vucic of engaging in “games” with the intention of creating conflict.
After a war in 1998 and 1999, Kosovo won its independence from Serbia and now boasts a population that is almost entirely composed of ethnic Albanians. Both the government of Serbia and the ethnic Serbs who live there do not acknowledge Kosovo’s status as an independent state.
Kosovo is being accused by Belgrade of planning acts of “terrorism against Serbs” in regions where there are approximately 50,000 ethnic Serbs living.
As a form of retaliation, Pristina has accused Belgrade of being the mastermind behind “paramilitary formations” that erected roadblocks in predominantly Serb regions of north Kosovo on December 10th.
The European Union has been making efforts to act as a mediator in this dispute. The group of 27 countries has issued a plea for “maximum prudence and rapid action,” as well as a request to the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo to “personally contribute to a political settlement.”
In recent days, Belgrade has reinforced its armed presence on the border in response to contradicting claims of a shooting incident that resulted in no injuries being sustained. There were rumors circulating in Belgrade that ethnic Serbs had been attacked, but the accusation was refuted by the authorities in Pristina, which is located in Kosovo.
Despite this, it seemed as though Serbia was using the reports as justification for increasing the size of its military deployment along the border.
The only hostilities that have taken place up until this point have consisted of heated words; nevertheless, on Monday, Serbia put its troops on combat alert. The government of Kosovo has issued a warning, stating that it will take action on its own if the barriers are not removed by the NATO peacekeeping force known as KFOR.
All parties have been urged by NATO, which currently has approximately 3,700 peacekeepers stationed in Kosovo, to steer clear of any and all provocations. Over the course of many years, the contributions of the KFOR troops have been critical in maintaining peace. The European Union has issued a warning that it will not accept attacks on EU police or illegal acts and is now conducting a mission in Kosovo to promote the rule of law.
This is a precarious and explosively flammable scenario. Since Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, tensions between the capitals of Belgrade and Pristina have risen and fallen on multiple occasions.
But during the past few months, they have reached an all-time high, with ethnic Serbs pulling out of any cooperation with the government in Kosovo.
Surprisingly, a disagreement over licence plates was what set off the fight. Pristina ordered that ethnic Serbs give up the licence plates that had been issued to them by Serbia and that they replace them with plates that said “Republic of Kosovo.” These ethnic Serbs continued to use Serbian licence plates.
On both fronts, the symbolism carried a great deal of weight.
Pristina saw this as an opportunity to assert its authority over the region. The licence plates that people drove around with indicated who they were to Serbs in Kosovo. Only a few people were able to complete the trade before the deadline.
Pristina’s threat to levy fines on those who did not sign the agreement prompted a huge exodus of ethnic Serbs from all of Kosovo’s national institutions one month ago. This included members of the police force, with over 600 officers of ethnic Serb descent turning in their badges.
They have not been persuaded to return by a compromise agreement on the license plates that was handled by the EU. Instead, Belgrade is asking that Kosovo keep the promise it made in an agreement reached in Brussels in 2013 to provide Serbs some autonomy through an association of mainly Serb towns. This promise was made to grant the Serbs limited autonomy.
Pristina has been encouraged by the European Union to initiate the formation of the association. However, Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, is adamantly opposed to the concept. He is of the opinion that it would lead to the establishment of a Serbian-governed mini-state within Kosovo.
After an ethnic Serb former police officer was arrested on charges of attacking the Kosovo force, the barricades appeared despite the fact that there was no indication of a diplomatic breakthrough taking place.
There are roadblocks at every crossing point between northern Kosovo and Serbia. Furthermore, new barricades appeared early Tuesday in North Mitrovica, Kosovo’s town with the largest majority Serb population.
Elements from other countries are also a consideration. Kosovo has accused Serbia of doing Russia’s bidding by causing trouble in the Western Balkans in order to divert attention away from the conflict in Ukraine. This accusation comes in response to Serbia’s alleged involvement in the conflict in Kosovo.
It has taken weeks for special envoys from the United States and the European Union to engage in shuttle diplomacy. However, as of yet, they have been unable to bring Kosovo and Serbia to the table for negotiations.
The NATO peacekeepers are being pressured from both Belgrade and Pristina to protect the Serbs and to demolish the barricades, respectively.
The tone of the EU’s appeals for maximal restraint could be described as slightly frantic. Even though it is the holiday season, kindness is still in short supply in regard to the conflict that has been building.