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Why won’t Kosovo settle down?
Soldiers and police guard a building in Zvecan after clashes between ethnic Serbs and troops from the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force. photo
© Dejan Simicevic/AP
Again and again, violence and clashes bring Europe’s youngest state into the headlines. Neighbor Serbia does not want to accept the loss of its former province.
The riots in northern Kosovo, in which 80 NATO soldiers and Serb civilians were injured, mark the worst violent conflict in recent years in the small Balkan country. Almost two million Albanians now live in Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 and is not recognized by neighboring Serbia, and around 50,000 Serbs live in the more rural north of the country on the border with Serbia. The latter want nothing to do with the state of Kosovo, the former Serbian province.
How did the recent outbreak of violence come about?
The background is the election of mayors of Albanian origin after the Serbian officials resigned at the behest of Belgrade in April. The clashes began on Friday. Militant Serbs attacked the Kosovo special police who were escorting the newly elected mayor of Albanian origin into office in the town of Zvecan. There were already injuries. The NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR, which is to ensure security with a UN mandate, moved in to protect the municipal offices in Zvecan and two other places.
What exactly happened then?
On Monday, Serbs gathered again to protest against the new mayor. They demanded the departure of the Kosovo police. Police vehicles were still parked at the municipal office. They should have left in the afternoon, but the demonstrators wouldn’t allow it. The KFOR unit used tear gas to break up the protests. Then the situation escalated. Serbs threw stun grenades and stones at the soldiers and attacked them with batons. 30 soldiers and about 50 Serbs were injured.
Who are the militant Serbs?
Thugs from the milieu of football hooligans and petty criminals. They are harnessed by local Serbian politicians and dubious businessmen, who in turn are acting in the interests of Belgrade.
Why are the protests aimed at the new mayors?
Because they are Albanians and emerged from elections boycotted by the Serbs at the behest of Belgrade. Participation was less than four percent. The Serbian officials resigned because the government in Pristina finally wanted to enforce the Serbs in northern Kosovo to use Kosovar license plates and not Serbian ones.
What is Serbia aiming for?
Kosovo was once part of Serbia and Yugoslavia. Serbia considers it the mythical center of the medieval Serbian Empire. In the wake of Yugoslavia’s collapse, NATO intervened in 1999 with airstrikes against Serbia to stop war crimes by Serbian security forces against Albanian civilians in Kosovo. The country came under UN administration and declared independence in 2008. Serbia never recognized this and insists on the return of its former province. In the north of the country, on the border with Serbia, there is a compact Serbian settlement area.
Why haven’t the problems been solved long ago?
The EU and the US have invested a great deal of diplomatic energy since 1999. Most Western countries such as Germany, Great Britain and the USA recognized Kosovo immediately in 2008 – but five EU countries have not yet recognized it: Spain, Greece, Slovakia, Romania and Cyprus. This is a shortcoming for EU diplomacy. Serbia under President Aleksandar Vucic relies on Russia, which under Vladimir Putin, even before the Ukraine war, seldom missed an opportunity to geopolitically harm the West. Experts criticize that the West lacks a strategy – not just for Kosovo, but for the entire region.
How did the West react to the recent riots?
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said: “Acts of violence against citizens, against the media, against law enforcement agencies and KFOR troops are absolutely unacceptable.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that 700 more soldiers would be sent. So far, 3,800 KFOR soldiers are stationed in Kosovo, including 70 Germans.
Is this more than just damage control?
Hardly likely. The signals are too contradictory. Borrell and the USA zero in on Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who triggered the riots with the police operation, but can’t do anything about the blockades caused by Belgrade. US Ambassador Jeff Hovenier even announced a “punishment” for the Kosovars: they are not allowed to take part in the US military maneuvers Defender Europe 2023. Kurti’s government shares European values and takes action against corruption. Vucic governs in an authoritarian manner, does not support the EU sanctions against Russia, never signed an EU-brokered framework agreement with Kosovo in February – and gets away with “warnings”.
Is there a risk that the Kosovo conflict will spread regionally?
Not at the moment, although Vucic has once again put the Serbian armed forces on high alert. But observers do not expect the Serbian president to dare an open confrontation with NATO in Kosovo. At the same time, the tension in the south is helping him to keep power in his own country stable – also in the light of the recent mass protests in Belgrade against his authoritarian rule.