On Sunday, tensions erupted on the border between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovar authorities, as the government in Pristina was about to introduce new border rules against holders of Serbian nationality.
What happened ?
Hundreds of Kosovo Serbs massed trucks, tankers and other heavy vehicles on the roads leading to the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings on Sunday evening.
A crowd has thus settled in front of barricades to protest against the new border policy of the government which, since Monday, was to oblige anyone with a Serbian identity card to replace it with a temporary document when entering Kosovar territory, as well as only to provide temporary Kosovar license plates to all Serbian vehicles arriving in Kosovo.
In these clashes, the Kosovar police said they had been fired on four times, without there being any victims, and reported "ill-treatment" suffered by Kosovar Albanians.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti denounced the alleged perpetrators of these attacks.
"We call on international forces, western democratic capitals, the European Union and NATO to condemn the violence and aggression of criminal gangs in northern Kosovo, which are clearly organized and financed by Belgrade," he said. he told the press.
Kosovo Police has closed the border to passenger & vehicle traffic at Bernjak & Jarinje points due to roadblocks.
The Kosovska Mitrovica bridge, connecting the southern & northern parts of the city (Albanian & Serbian) is blocked as sirens sound.
pic.twitter.com/vdpDak6N7w
— Rebecca Rambar (@RebeccaRambar) July 31, 2022
Is the conflict resolved?
In recent hours, the decision was finally taken by the Kosovo government to postpone the entry into force of the rules for a month.
In response, Kosovo Serbs dismantled their border barricades, and protesters removed heavy vehicles blocking access to border crossings.
For Loïc Trégourès, doctor of political science and specialist in the Balkans, this scenario is “a repetition of what happened last September and of what will possibly happen in 30 days”.
Last September, two border crossings were blocked for several days after Pristina's decision to ban Serbian license plates.
For the expert, "this so-called escalation of tensions has a single diplomatic purpose": "It is a way of strengthening its diplomatic positions, with on the one hand Kosovo, which proclaims itself totally independent, and the other Serbia, which considers this position totally unacceptable.
As things stand, it's an insoluble conflict.
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Where do the tensions between Kosovo and Serbia come from?
These new rules that the Kosovar government wants to impose do not come out of nowhere.
Since the expiry of a bilateral agreement in 2011, entry into Serbia for Kosovars is conditional on the withdrawal of license plate, in favor of a temporary Serbian license plate.
Thus, Pristina justifies its new rules in the name of the “principle of reciprocity”.
"Kosovo's discourse is to say that it is a sovereign state, just like Serbia, and that the application of these rules is completely normal, in response to the identical rules put in place by Serbia", explains Loïc Tregoures.
However, the problem is deeper.
Although the independence of Kosovo was proclaimed on February 17, 2008, during an extraordinary session of the Parliament of the Provisional Institutions of Kosovo and nine years after the end of the war which pitted it against Serbia, Belgrade still refuses to recognize the independence of this former Serbian region.
What status and what obstacles for Kosovo?
This veto by Serbia, as well as other countries, is an obstacle for Kosovo on its way to joining a number of international organizations, such as UNESCO and Interpol, as the specialist points out: “Since 2008, Kosovo's independence has been recognized by half of the countries in the world, but some of the other nations are fiercely opposed to it, such as Serbia.
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However, the situation could change in the coming weeks.
“The Kosovar authorities will soon submit a request to the Council of Europe, with a view to obtaining protection from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is not currently the case.
This would certainly be a good thing for all citizens of Kosovo.
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Why was NATO ready to intervene?
In the wake of the tensions that arose on the border between the two countries on Sunday, the NATO forces deployed in Kosovo had indicated very quickly that they "would intervene if stability was compromised".
This sudden reaction is the result of an agreement reached shortly after the 1998-1999 military confrontation between the Kosovo Liberation Army and Serbian forces.
pic.twitter.com/LK1MB2cSoJ
— @NATO - KFOR (@NATO_KFOR) July 31, 2022
Thus, “the 1999 conflict ended after NATO intervened in the conflict.
The Serb forces withdrew and obtained a guarantee from the organization to ensure the security of the Kosovo Serbs,” explains Loïc Trégourès.
"Consequently, NATO is doing neither more nor less than its job, namely to ensure the security via KFOR, under the mandate of the European Union, of assets, both heritage and religious, but also the security of people", says the researcher.