Serbian military convoy is apparently rolling towards Kosovo – there is a risk of escalation in the middle of Europe

Created: 2022-12-20 05:02

By: Richard Strobl

The situation in northern Kosovo threatens to escalate seriously.

After several incidents, Serbia is now apparently beginning to send troops towards the border.

Pristina - Following rising ethnic tensions in northern Kosovo, Serbia has threatened to send its own troops to the neighboring country.

And apparently President Aleksandar Vučić is serious about it.

As the heads of state diligently fuel the Serbia-Kosovo conflict, the Spanish newspaper

reports on Monday that a military convoy is moving towards the Kosovo border.

The newspaper also circulated video recordings via Twitter, which are said to show the movement of troops on Mount Kopaonik.

You can see armored vehicles of the type BOV-16 "Milosh".

The mountain is located in southern Serbia — just a few kilometers from the border with Kosovo.

Serbian armored cars roll towards Kosovo - conflict threatens to escalate

A Serbian military convoy is said to be on its way to Kosovo.

Main image: Civilian vehicles parked next to a cemented barricade representing the northern, by ethnic Serb minority.

© IMAGO/Vudi Xhymshiti // Screenshot: Twitter/El Periodico de la Geopolitica

Serbia had previously threatened to send its own police and army units to Kosovo.

The video recordings are particularly sensitive because the NATO security force KFOR would have to allow Serbia to take this step.

However, President Vucic said in a press conference in Belgrade on Saturday evening that he saw little chance that KFOR would allow Serbia to send troops to Kosovo.

In an interview with IPPEN.MEDIA, the Balkans expert Konrad Clewing sees Serbian muscle flexing, including “breathtaking inflammatory politics”.

The pictures are ultimately one thing above all: staging.

This was preceded by increasing ethnic tensions, with road blockades and exchanges of gunfire in northern Kosovo.

Ethnic tensions in Kosovo: dispute over car license plates escalates

Tensions flared over a dispute over license plates.

Kosovo wants to oblige around 10,000 members of the Serbian minority to no longer drive with Serbian license plates, but to accept those of the Republic of Kosovo.

However, the Serbs in northern Kosovo do not recognize the authority of the government in Pristina.

Because of the dispute, Serbian-born Kosovan police officers, among others, had collectively resigned.

Kosovo then sent police officers from the Albanian majority to the north of the country.

A patrol of these then came under fire on Friday.

A member of the Kosovar police was "slightly injured (...) and the police car suffered considerable material damage," the Kosovar police said on Friday (December 9).

Accordingly, the attackers opened fire with guns from a car.

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The dispatch of the police officers to the north is apparently heating up the tensions further.

This was exactly what was feared.

The head of the Serbian government office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, condemned the police operation in the north and then threatened at the weekend that Serbian armed forces might return to the region.

In addition, four Serbian mayors and municipal representatives in northern Kosovo resigned their offices - again because of the now suspended license plate regulation.

The local elections scheduled for the end of December were a test of strength and have since been postponed to April.

Apparently to defuse the situation.

Situation in Kosovo before escalation: road blockades and exchange of fire

Apparently angry ethnic Serbs also blocked country roads in northern Kosovo.

They were reacting to the arrest of an ethnic Serb, until recently a Kosovan police officer, who is said to be responsible for attacks on planned polling stations.

"Extremist groups" had set up barricades in the towns of Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok, Interior Minister Xhlelal Zvecla wrote on Facebook.

The northern border crossing at Jarinje was closed because of the barricades, the police said.

On Tuesday, militant Serbs also fired shots in the air at election workers and police officers who wanted to prepare for the elections.

As a result, Kosovo's police reinforced their forces in the northern part of the divided city of Mitrovica.

300 additional police officers took up positions in the districts inhabited by Albanians and Bosniaks in the otherwise mostly Serb half of the city.

To this day, Serbia is not ready to recognize Kosovo's statehood, which has existed since 2008.

The small Balkan country is now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians.

In the enclave of North Mitrovica, which borders directly with Serbia, Belgrade operates its own power structures, which are based on militant activists and criminals.

These repeatedly erect roadblocks and initiate violent incidents.