German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Sunday described as «unacceptable» the initiative announced the day before by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to ask NATO to allow the deployment of the Serbian Army to protect the population of northern Kosovo.
Vucic is obliged to ask permission from the NATO mission, KFOR, for any military deployment in independent Kosovo, the scene this weekend of a huge spike in tensions following barricades erected by the population of the Serb-majority northern Kosovo in protest against the arrest of a former Kosovo Serb policeman, among other reasons.
«Any hint of sending Serb forces into Kosovo is completely unacceptable,» Baerbock made known on his Twitter account following the escalation of the conflict this weekend. Northern Kosovo is now in the midst of an institutional vacuum following the boycott of Kosovo Serb mayoralties and Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani has announced the postponement of local elections in the face of the chaotic political scenario.
To this must be added outbreaks of violence such as the one that occurred last night against a patrol of the EU civilian mission, EULEX, with no casualties to regret.
«Kosovo reduced tensions by postponing local elections. Serbia’s recent rhetoric has done the opposite,» said Baerbock, who also described the unidentified attack on EULEX as «unacceptable».
Finally, Baerbock dedicated his full support «to the dialogue process led by the European Union envoy for the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo», Miroslav Lajcak.
