The Russian government on Sunday accused the European Union (EU) of «shaping» the situation in Kosovo for years to provoke an aggravation of the situation, amid an upsurge in tensions that has led Serbia to request its military and police deployment in the territory.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, has taken up statements by the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, in which she warned that it is «on the brink of war» because of Kosovo’s actions and the «inaction» of the EU.
In this regard, Zakharova has highlighted through a brief message on her Telegram account that «this situation is precisely what the EU has been shaping for years».
For his part, the speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Vladimir Orlic, has outlined that Belgrade «will protect peace and stability, but also the security of Serbs in Kosovo.» «It is necessary to act wisely, with a cool head and firmness despite all the pressures,» he said.
Thus, Orlic denounced that the Kosovo Serb population lives under a state of «terror» that aims to expel them from the area, while he pointed out that the «pressures» on Serbia will increase in the coming days, according to the Serbian news agency Tanjug.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Saturday that he will ask NATO to deploy the Serbian army and police in Kosovo amid a spike in tension at border crossings with Serbia and a new flashpoint in the dispute that has separated Belgrade and Pristina since the declaration of Kosovo’s independence in 2008.
The request, which is unprecedented since the end of the war in Kosovo more than 20 years ago, came hours after the announcement of the postponement of local elections in the Serb-majority areas of northern Kosovo and the raising of Kosovo Serb barricades that have provoked the intervention of the Kosovar police at the border.
Faced with the inability to reach an agreement on the so-called «license plate crisis» – a long series of confrontations between the Serbian and Kosovar authorities over the vehicle identification plates, issued by Serbia, and whose competences Kosovo intended to assume until an agreement reached at the end of November through EU mediation – Kosovar Serb mayors, judges and police officers decided to resign from their functions and to open an institutional vacuum in the area.
On November 15, the Srpska Lista (Serb List) party in Kosovo declared its total and complete renunciation of the local elections, where the election of the mayors of four Serb-majority municipalities was scheduled: North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan, all governed by mayors of this formation, who had resigned five days earlier.
After several nights of violent incidents that have left at least one Kosovo Police officer wounded by alleged Serb gunfire, the situation finally escalated with the arrest of a Kosovo Serb police officer, part of the resigned officers, which led to barricades being erected by the population of the area.
