Balkan trip
Pistorius in Kosovo: Call for dialogue and warning to Serbia
Boris Pistorius is greeted by Vjosa Osmani, President of the Republic of Kosovo. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
The Bundeswehr is moving additional soldiers to Kosovo. The German Defense Minister calls on the government in Pristina to engage in dialogue with Serbia – and makes a clear message to Belgrade.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has told the government Kosovo assured further military support from Germany after the tensions with Serbia. The Bundeswehr is on schedule with plans to send additional soldiers, said the SPD politician in Pristina at a meeting with President Vjosa Osmani. At the same time, after the recent tensions, he called on Serbs and Albanians to seek progress through negotiations on the path to the European Union.
“The order of the day is dialogue and de-escalation. The Chancellor has emphasized very clearly that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union. And that must be the way,” said Pistorius. “In this situation, no one can and should have an interest in making the situation worse.”
“Stability, security and freedom”
The USA, Germany and the other NATO partners have not provided security with up to 50,000 soldiers since the 1990s “in order to watch now or in the future how the situation here destabilizes again,” he said. Since the times of the Soviet Union, Russia has had very strong interests in the Western Balkans. He said: “That’s why it’s all the more important that we send clear signals, that we make it clear that we stand with the countries that stand for stability, security and freedom.”
Pistorius announced that he would also clearly address the situation in Belgrade. “Serbia wants to join the European Union, just like Kosovo and other Western Balkan countries. That must remain our common goal,” he said. A set of values, common goals and shared responsibility must be adhered to. “Anyone who wants to do that cannot dance at two weddings at the same time,” said Pistorius, who also obviously alluded to Serbia’s cooperation with Russia. He said the clearer communication is “the better for everyone involved.”
Even against the backdrop of a deteriorating security situation in Kosovo, the Bundeswehr will increase its involvement in KFOR. Around 90 men and women from the Bundeswehr are currently deployed at KFOR and the NATO advisory team (Nalt). From April onwards, a Bundeswehr company with more than 150 additional soldiers is to be deployed in Kosovo. Kosovo, which is now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, declared itself independent in 2008. More than 100 countries, including Germany, recognize independence, but not Serbia, which is reclaiming its former province.
Osmani called on Monday for increased protection of the border with Serbia, through which weapons smuggling runs into the north of Kosovo. There must also be a clear signal to the Serbian government that acts of violence will not be tolerated.
Weapons of war confiscated
Kosovo’s security forces say they have confiscated weapons and military equipment for up to 400 fighters after shootouts with Serbian paramilitaries last year. In addition, an analysis of confiscated documents and military weapons proves that the Serbian state was equipped with equipment as well as close connections to the apparatus of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, according to an investigation report by the Kosovo government. The 51-page paper from the Kosovo Foreign Ministry, for which photos and videos, data sets and identity cards were examined, was available to the German Press Agency on Monday.
In its investigation, the Kosovo government lists seized war weapons that were confiscated in the presence of the Kosovo protection force KFOR and the EU rule of law mission Eulex. These include two armored trucks, 29 off-road vehicles, 66 assault rifles, 80,000 rounds of ammunition as well as mortars, hand grenades, mines, plastic explosives, sniper rifles and communications equipment. The origin and production dates – some as recently as 2022 – could therefore also be reconstructed using the enclosed documents.
The tensions of the past few years reached a climax on September 24th last year: a 30-strong, heavily armed Serbian commando force fought battles with the Kosovo police in the town of Banjska near Mitrovica in Serb-inhabited northern Kosovo. Three Serbian attackers and a Kosovar police officer were killed.
The Kosovo Serb politician and businessman Milan Radoicic claimed responsibility for this attack. He claimed that he carried out the action on his own initiative and did not inform any official authorities in Serbia about it. However, the government in Pristina considers it impossible that Radoicic acted without help. The investigation report argues that the Serbian attackers’ goal was to clear a corridor so that they could send in more military supplies.
The report also warns about Serbia’s cooperation with the Russian state and President Vladimir Putin: “If the West continues to allow Vucic to escalate and does not take unambiguous, clear steps to deter Vucic and Putin from further escalations, the Balkans could once again be in one War sinks.”