Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Sunday again called on NATO to increase its military presence despite the lifting of the barricades that the Serb majority in northern Kosovo maintained for more than two weeks in protest against the government in Pristina.
«A significant increase of NATO soldiers and military equipment in our country would improve security and peace in Kosovo, as well as in the entire Western Balkans region,» he said in an interview with the German daily ‘Welt’ on Sunday.
Despite the complete withdrawal of the barricades, which confirms some easing of tension in the area after one of the most dangerous clashes in recent years between Kosovo and Serbia, Kurti has assured that there are at least 16 blockades in four communities.
In this regard, he argued that «an increase in the number of soldiers in the peacekeeping force» will help the defense of Kosovo in the face of «Serbian artillery (installed) along the border with Kosovo and the constant ominous statements of the Serbian and Russian states».
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced Wednesday the beginning of the withdrawal of the barricades after receiving assurances that the Kosovo government would not deploy its «special forces» in Kosovo Serb villages.
The crisis erupted in September 2021 over vehicle registration powers and has ended with an institutional vacuum in Kosovo’s northern Serb-majority towns, attacks on EU mission patrols, arrests of former Kosovo Serb policemen and an initiative by Belgrade to deploy the Serbian Army in the area.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
