Serbia Puts Troops On High Alert Over Kosovo Tensions / News / By Jessa Martin TODAY:- MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) – On Tuesday, Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla claimed that Serbia, influenced by Russia, was attempting to destabilize Kosovo by lending assistance to the Serb minority in the north, who have been blocking highways and demonstrating for nearly three weeks. After weeks of growing tensions between Belgrade and Pristina, Serbs in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo erected additional barricades on Tuesday, hours after Serbia announced it had put its troops on the highest battle alert. To legitimize and defend the criminal gangs that intimidate… individuals of Serb ethnicity residing in Kosovo, Svecla stated in a statement, “it is precisely Serbia, encouraged by Russia, that has created a state of military preparedness and that is ordering the installation of additional barricades.” Serbia Puts Troops On High Alert Over Kosovo Tensions Belgrade announced late Monday that it had ordered its troops and police to be put on the highest alert in light of recent events in the region and its assumption that Kosovo was prepared to attack Serbs and forcibly remove the barriers. See more #KFOR is investigating an indirect fire incident on 25 December in the close proximity of a @NATO_KFOR patrol. The incident involved unknown armed people in the Zubin Potok area. pic.twitter.com/1FsznDeWae — @NATO – KFOR (@NATO_KFOR) December 26, 2022 Since the arrest of a former Serb policeman on December 10 for allegedly assaulting serving police officers, Serbs in northern Kosovo have established various roadblocks in and around Mitrovica and exchanged fire with police. See more The old photo is from 1990 when Serb militants put barricades across Croatia to block roads and police. Wars in former Yugoslavia started soon after. Second photo is from this week, Serb militants blocking roads in Kosovo. It's tragic how little has Belgrade learned in 30 years. pic.twitter.com/fkK6JPOQcF — Petrit Selimi (@Petrit) December 27, 2022 To see the rest of this ad, please scroll down. Albanian-majority Following NATO’s intervention in a war in 1998–1992 to protect ethnic Albanian inhabitants, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 with Western support. Latest News Russian Soyuz MS-22 Spacecraft Leak Hole Detected, Report Says China Estimates 250 million COVID-19 Cases In 20 Days Kosovo is not a UN member, and five European Union countries (Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Cyprus) do not recognize it as a sovereign nation. Serbia’s longtime ally, Russia, is opposing Kosovo’s bid to join the United Nations. See more Serbian militants in northern Kosovo, supported by "green men" from Belgrade show no intent to open up the road barricades in the northern Kosovo. Actually, several more barricades erected last night. Kosovo's border posts & police surrounded and blocked. — Petrit Selimi (@Petrit) December 27, 2022 Northern Kosovo is home to an estimated 50,000 Serbs who have shown no sign of accepting either the Pristina government or the state. As far as they’re concerned, Belgrade is the nation’s true capital. According to the Kosovo government, the police force is prepared to act and ready to remove the barriers; however, they are awaiting a response from the NATO KFOR Kosovo peace-keeping force. Vucic said the subject was being discussed with international ambassadors. On Tuesday morning, trucks stationed in a roadblock in Mitrovica cut down traffic between the Serb and Albanian neighborhoods. The Serbs will not remove the barriers unless they receive certain concessions, one of which is the release of the jailed officer. Last month, in protest over a decision by the Kosovo government to replace Serbian-issued car license plates with ones issued by Pristina, the mayors of municipalities in northern Kosovo, together with local judges and some 600 police personnel, resigned. Russian aggression in Ukraine has prompted European Union member states to work harder on mending fences with the six Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Keep following our website NogMagazine.com for more updates.
