A recent outbreak of violence in northern Kosovo is raising fears of a wider crisis erupting in the region. Beyond the rivalry between Kosovo and Serbia, there is a struggle for influence between Russia and Western powers.
“It is very surprising and worrying that KFOR was directly attacked,” said Jean-Hubert Lebet, former Swiss ambassador to Kosovo. A diplomat invited to Geopolitics is surprised by the particularly violent turn of events in northern Kosovo directed against NATO peacekeeping forces KFOR.
In front of Zvecan town hall at the end of May, hundreds of Serbian demonstrators clashed with Kosovar police and NATO soldiers. More than 80 people, including around 30 KFOR soldiers, were injured in the violence. For weeks, demonstrators have been demanding the resignation of the newly elected Albanian mayor of the Serb-majority city. In the northern municipalities, the last elections were largely ignored by the Serbian community. All Albanian speakers topped the poll, with a participation rate of less than 4%.
>> Read More: In northern Kosovo, Serbs boycotted municipal elections
License plates in the viewfinder
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurdi was determined from the beginning of the crisis to reassert Kosovo’s sovereignty in the north of the country. The region, which is predominantly inhabited by Serbs, usually lives on Belgrade time. This new tension goes back several months. Pristina had decided to no longer allow Serbian license plates in this part of Kosovo. The decision led to the resignation of the entire civil service, including the Serbian mayors of local governments in the north. Pristina accuses Belgrade of mobilizing criminal gangs to incite violence.
“In principle, the northern part of Kosovo is a part of Kosovo that has laws and plates are made in a certain way”, continues Jean-Hubert Lebet. However, “there are parallel Serbian structures, which are in Cyrillic script. We don’t pay electricity bills in Kosovo. We don’t respect the rules. Until recently, the Kosovar authorities weren’t allowed. And the regime [du président serbe] “Vucic is imposing cadres, be it judges or police, to keep control over northern Kosovo,” he said.
A third of Kosovo Serbs live in the north of the country. [Géopolitis – RTS]
Westerners are pressuring the Kurds
After weeks of Western pressure – led by Paris, Berlin and Washington – to organize new elections, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurdi said he was ready to make concessions. If the violence stops, Pristina wants to organize a new referendum in the northern regions. Tensions rose again in mid-June, when Serbia arrested three Kosovar police officers suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.
>> Read More: Kosovo says it is “open” to new local elections in the north of the country
The EU has been calling for Pristina and Belgrade to resolve the dispute for weeks. Serbian and Kosovar leaders invited to Brussels for talks on Thursday refused to meet. “It is essential to de-escalate tensions and organize new elections in the north with the participation of Kosovo Serbs. This is important for the region and for the EU,” the European diplomatic chief pleaded at the time. Joseph Borrell. Serbia is important to Europe, which does not want to get closer to Russia. Serbia is still officially a candidate for the EU, but is developing good relations with Vladimir Putin. It is one of the only European countries not to impose sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic maintains this ambiguity. “I still don’t understand the Westerners’ pleasure against Serbia,” laments Jean-Hubert Lebet. “The cause of the strong is always the best. It is easy for Western presidents to support Serbia and beat the small.”
Kosovo declared its independence in 2008 and is recognized by half of the United Nations member states. For its part, Serbia, like many countries in the European Union, China and Russia, has never recognized Kosovo’s independence.
Nationalist strand
“Kosovo is the heart of Serbia,” tennis player Novak Djokovic stoked a little more nationalistic fervor with these words signed to the Roland-Carros camera. “I feel a responsibility to support our people and all of Serbia,” he said.
Novak Djokovic was 4 years old when war broke out in Yugoslavia. He was brought up in a fervent nationalism. Like him, two-thirds of Serbs believe Kosovo belongs to them. It was in this territory that the independent Serbian Orthodox Church was born in the 13th century. Four churches listed by UNESCO testify to this existence before the Ottoman invasion and the Islamization of Kosovo, which today is almost 90% Muslim.
A strong anti-Western sentiment is added to this narrative, maintained by Serbian nationalists. We have not forgotten the NATO bombings in Belgrade in 1999. A hatred that benefits Russia. Vladimir Putin shows his support for Serbia on the Kosovo issue.
Symbols of the Russian mercenary group Wagner have graced the walls of Belgrade in recent months. “This clearly demonstrates Russian presence in the region and increasing Russian presence in the region. It is in Russia’s obvious interest to have an additional front against the West”, comments Jean-Hubert Lebet.
NATO for its part reaffirmed KFOR’s “unshakable” commitment to Kosovo. The Atlantic alliance has beefed up its troops on the ground after the recent violence. Nearly 4,000 soldiers have been deployed there, after a battalion of reinforcements from Turkey. “NATO troops in Kosovo are gathering attention and fear”, the diplomat continues. “And it’s not just Russia. There’s the Chinese presence, the Turkish presence, which is now occupying a space that has been somewhat set aside by the traditional superpowers, the European Union and the United States.”
Melanie Ohion, Juliet Galesi
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