conflicts
NATO commander calls for de-escalation in Kosovo
KFOR entered Kosovo in 1999 after a NATO intervention against Serbia. photo
© Bojan Slavkovic/AP
NATO commander Ristuccia calls on Kosovo and Serbia to support the EU’s mediation efforts. Relations between the two countries have once again deteriorated.
The commander of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo calls on the parties to the conflict in the region to make additional efforts. Before a visit by Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani in Brussels, Italian Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia said he was calling on both sides to support the EU’s mediation efforts more constructively and proactively. Unilateral measures that endanger the normalization of the situation must be avoided. Both sides must have the will to find a political solution.
KFOR soldiers have also been attacked
The background to Ristuccia’s requests are the worrying developments in relations between Kosovo and Serbia in recent months. At the end of May, violent Serbs in northern Kosovo even attacked soldiers of the KFOR peacekeeping force in the course of clashes. They used tear gas and stun grenades. 30 Italian and Hungarian soldiers and more than 50 Serbs were injured.
The trigger for the conflict was the appointment of mayors of ethnic Albanian origin, who emerged from elections boycotted by the Serbs at the behest of Belgrade. Kosovo, which is now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, declared its independence in 2008. To this day, Serbia has not recognized this step and is demanding the return of its former province.
4500 KFOR soldiers still in action
KFOR entered Kosovo in 1999 after a NATO intervention against Serbia. Based on a mandate from the UN Security Council, she is responsible for ensuring security in the country. Due to current developments, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced at the end of May that 700 more soldiers would be added to the force. According to Ristuccia, it currently has around 4,500 soldiers from a total of 27 NATO and partner countries. Germany recently took part in the KFOR operation with around 70 soldiers.