You are here
Home > News > Serbia calls for green light to deploy its troops in Kosovo

Serbia calls for green light to deploy its troops in Kosovo

As the Serb-Kosovar tensions grow, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić said on Thursday that the Serbian government would ask the NATO peacekeeper commander to allow the country to send up to 1,000 police and army personnel to Kosovo.

Eastern Express 15.12

see more

Belgrade has never requested to deploy troops in Kosovo since a United Nations Security Council resolution put the 1998-1999 war to an end, during which NATO bombed rump-Yugoslavia consisting of Serbia and Montenegro to protect Albanian-majority Kosovo.

“The government will ask for the return of hundreds and no more than 1,000 army and police troops,” Vučić said, adding that they would send the request via email this evening and physically hand it to KFOR, the NATO mission in Kosovo, at a border crossing on Friday.

“I do not expect to get a positive answer,” a disillusioned Vučić said.

The request makes for another chapter in a series of escalations that saw clashes between Kosovo authorities and Serbs in the northern region, where they constitute a majority.

In light of the UN resolution, Serbia may be allowed, if greenlighted by KFOR, to deploy its personnel at border crossings, Orthodox Christian religious sites and areas with Serb majorities.

While Kosovo declared independence from Serbia with Western backing in 2008, it enjoys recognition by 110 countries but not by Serbia, Russia and five European Union member states.

“We are all witnessing Serbia’s constant threat to Kosovo,” Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani told the parliament on Thursday. “Serbia and its leader Vucic know very well that the presence of the Serbian army in the territory of Kosovo ended once and for all on June 12, 1999.”

EU membership has been Serbia’s ambition but to accomplish it, it must resolve issues with Kosovo, which, in turn, filed its EU membership application on Thursday.

Both countries have agreed to EU-sponsored dialogue in 2013 but little progress has been made.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Top