'Precautionary measure': Serbia says army on Kosovo border ready for any order if NATO fails

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – Serbia has moved its army to the border with Kosovo as a “precautionary measure” in case the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) fails in its duty to protect ethnic Serbs, according to the country’s Defense Minister Milos Vucevic.

He warned that the army stands “ready to follow any order … in case we are left without another preferable choice.”

Serbia ordered its army to advance to the border with Kosovo – which it claims as its own territory – last weekend as tensions rose in the region, this time in the aftermath of local elections that saw ethnic Albanian mayors elected in northern Kosovo areas where Serb are in majority.

Violent clashes have taken place since last Friday, when the newly elected mayors were due to move into their offices.

Serb protesters gathered outside the buildings to block the mayors from entering, triggering standoffs that escalated into clashes with Serbs on one side and local police and NATO peacekeepers on the other.

Dozens of protesters and peacekeepers have been injured, drawing international condemnation and stoking fears of escalating conflict.

“We are fully aware of the fact that, according to the international law and existing UN Security Council resolutions, responsibility for maintaining security and well-being of all the people living in Kosovo and Metohija lies with KFOR,” Vucevic said in an email interview with Anadolu.

“With that in mind, we have continuously called KFOR to stay true to its mandate, stick to the neutral approach ... and protect members of non-majority communities. However, we have also reiterated many times that we cannot allow for any type of pogrom against our people to happen on the ground.”

Vucevic said KFOR must act to “prevent (the) dangerous and criminal intentions” of Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, accusing him of trying to “wipe out Serbs.”

“Our troops’ deployment is a precautionary measure in case KFOR fails in conducting their duties,” he asserted.

- ‘Brute force started spiral of escalation’

Vucevic contended that the escalation was sparked by Kurti and the Kosovo forces who forcefully installed new mayors in four municipalities.

“These mayors were elected with a minimal turnout of just 3.47% and despite an overwhelming boycott of the Serbian population, so it is logical that local people decided to protest their installment,” he said.

“Protests were strictly peaceful and non-violent, but special militarized units of Kosovo police met them with brute force and that started the spiral of escalation in the region.”

Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani, in turn, has accused Serbia and Vucic of destabilizing Kosovo, blaming what she called “criminal gangs” for the violence.

“Serb illegal structures turned into criminal gangs have attacked Kosovo police, KFOR officers & journalists,” she said in a tweet earlier this week.

“These unacceptable acts of violence should be condemned by all. Those who carry out Vucic’s orders to destabilize the north of Kosovo, must face justice.”

Kurti, meanwhile, has backed the new mayors and Kosovar police units, saying they and the KFOR “are the border between violent extremists and peaceful institutions.”

Vucevic said Serbia has “already issued a request for the return of an agreed number of our security personnel to the province last December, fully in line with the provisions of UNSC Resolution 1244.”

“Just as a reminder, Article 4 of that resolution clearly confirms that a number of our personnel ‘will be permitted to return to Kosovo.’ It does not stipulate that they ‘may be’ or ‘should be’ permitted to return,” he added.

He argued that Kosovar forces violated existing agreements stipulating that they “can’t enter the northern region without the consent of KFOR command and local Serbian people.”

“As it goes for the police, we are now witnessing continuous deployment of special militarized mono-ethnic Albanian units of Kosovo police in the north,” he said.

“This also violates previously reached agreements, as they are taking on the duties of regular patrol police, for which they are neither equipped nor trained.”

Vucevic accused Kosovar forces of “constant harassment and intimidation of local Serbian people, resembling some sort of military-style occupation.”

“This is not sustainable and local people are right in their demands for immediate removal of those police units,” he added.

- Army ‘ready to follow any order’

Vucevic said Serbia believes in “dialogue and diplomacy,” but its army is “ready to follow any order” passed by President Aleksandar Vucic.

“We believe that dialogue and diplomacy are the primary tools for securing the well-being of our people,” he said.

However, Belgrade sees these routes “failing due to a series of unilateral measures” taken by Kurti, he added.

“We closely follow the developments on the ground and the Serbian Armed Forces stand ready to follow any order … in case we are left without another preferable choice,” said Vucevic.

He said Serbia is “willing to invest a lot … even to sacrifice a lot, in order to maintain peace and stability.”

“We are fully aware that nothing we have accomplished in previous years, ranging from economic and infrastructural development to raising the overall capabilities of our country, wouldn’t be possible if peace and stability were endangered,” he said.

“The only thing we cannot sacrifice is the lives of our people and I believe it is a common-sense stance that any democratic country in the world would take.”

Several countries, including the US and France, have also been pressing Kosovo to do its bit to defuse tensions.

US Ambassador Jeffrey Hovenier has said Washington will impose sanctions on Kosovo over the recent tensions, while French President Emmanuel Macron blamed Kosovar authorities for failing to respect a previous agreement brokered by EU bigwigs.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, meanwhile, met with Kurti and conveyed that the “current situation is dangerous and unsustainable.”