NATO to boost presence in Kosovo amid Serbia’s military buildup

Europe, News October 1, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

NATO has authorized the deployment of additional forces under its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo fearing a violent conflict between Pristina and Belgrade. Serbia is ramping up its military presence at the Kosovo northern border.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that his administration welcomes NATO’s decision to deploy additional forces under the peacekeeping mission in the country’s volatile northern region.

“We need NATO because the border with Serbia is very long and the Serbian army has been recently strengthening its capacities,” Kurti said during an interview. He also emphasized that his country lacks the ability to compete with the Serbian forces due to their modern military equipment. “They have a lot of military equipment from both the Russian Federation and China,” he added.

Following NATO’s announcement about the deployment of additional forces under the KFOR, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said it had transferred command of a battalion of troops to the alliance.

NATO-led peacekeeping mission Kosovo Force (KFOR) is responsible for maintaining stability in the country’s northern region, which has an ethnic Serb majority in terms of population and ethnic Albian leadership.

A new wave of violence erupted in Kosovo’s Serb-majority northern regions earlier this year after the smaller minority representatives were elected to the mayoral posts and assemblies. The votes were largely boycotted by the ethnic Serbs.

In the wake of the violent uprising in the region, Serbia started to build up its military forces around the country’s borders. The move was heavily criticized by Kosovo and its Western allies who accused Serbia of meddling with Kosovo’s internal affairs and orchestrating the violence in the country’s northern province.

*^{U.S. KFOR soldiers stand guard in front of the municipality office, while ethnic Serbs gather to protest, in the town of Leposavic, Kosovo, on May 29, 2023. (Image Credit: Reuters/Valdrin Xhemaj)}*

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed a “large military deployment” of Serbian tanks and artillery was present on Kosovo’s border. He described the buildup as “a very destabilizing development” and called on Serbia to withdraw these forces. Kirby added that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had called Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to urge “immediate de-escalation” and a return to dialogue.

“The secretary underscored that those responsible for the attacks who are now in Serbia must be held accountable,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

Serbia-Kosovo conflict

Kosovo, once a Serbian province, declared its independence in 2008 a decade after the 1998-1999 war. Most of Kosovo’s population consists of the Albanian ethnic groups, while Serbs account for the second largest ethnicity in the country. Half of Kosovo’s Serb population lives in the northern part and refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence making it one of the most volatile regions in Eastern Europe.

After NATO’s intervention in 1999, Serbia completely pulled out from Kosovo but refused to recognize its independence. NATO established the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo which largely operates in the country’s northern parts.

The EU, NATO, and the U.S. have pushed for years to broker a lasting peace between Kosovo and Serbia, but a deal has remained elusive amid continued divisions over the status of northern Kosovo.