"On the verge of an armed conflict": Serbia's head of government warns of escalation in Kosovo

Created: 12/24/2022, 2:22 p.m

By: Bettina Menzel

Kosovo Serbs carry a giant Serbian flag during a protest near the village of Rudare, north of the Serb-dominated part of the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, on Thursday (December 22).

© Bojan Slavkovic/AP/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++

Tensions between Serbia and northern Kosovo have been smoldering for years, and the situation heated up again in December.

Serbia's prime minister is now warning of an escalation.

Rudare – Prime Minister Ana Brnabic warned of an escalation of the situation in view of the growing tensions on the border between northern Kosovo and Serbia.

"We are really on the brink of armed conflict," she said in Belgrade on Wednesday (December 21).

She blamed the government in Pristina for the tensions.

Thousands of Serbs took to the streets in northern Kosovo on Thursday.

Kosovo has been independent since 2008, but tensions in the north of the country have persisted for years

Ana Brnabic, Prime Minister of Serbia, addresses the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce in 2018.

© picture alliance / Zoltan Mathe/MTI/dpa |

Zoltan Math

Despite attempts by the EU to engage in dialogue, Kosovo and Serbia have repeatedly been at odds for years.

The majority of Serbs live in the north of Kosovo – around 50,000 in total. The situation there has been tense for years.

Tensions flared up again on the border between Serbia and northern Kosovo in December.

Among other things, shots were fired at police officers and emergency services from the EU mission Eulex were attacked with a stun grenade.

Eulex is the European Union's rule of law mission in Kosovo and is intended to help the country, among other things, to build up the police and judiciary.

Many citizens of Serbian origin, who live in a compact settlement area in northern Kosovo, do not recognize the state authorities - and recently tried to heat up tensions again.

Thousands of Serbs took to the streets in northern Kosovo on Thursday, demanding the withdrawal of the police deployed by the Pristina government.

The roads in northern Kosovo have been blocked for days.

Belgrade encourages the Serb minority in their attempts to defy Pristina's authority.

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.

Tensions in the region had already been reignited in November, among other things due to a dispute over car license plates.

The latest protests were apparently triggered by the arrest of a former Serbian police officer.

International legal status of Kosovo

Kosovo was part of Serbia until 1999.

After a NATO intervention, he initially came under the administration of the UN mission Unmik.

In 2008, Kosovo, with its majority Albanian population, declared its independence from Serbia.

115 of a total of 193 countries worldwide, including Germany, now recognize Kosovo as an independent state.

To this day, Belgrade sees Kosovo as a breakaway territory.

Just a few years ago, both countries fought a bloody war.

The Kosovo war lasted from February 1998 to June 10, 1999 and claimed thousands of lives.

Serbian military applied for permission to enter Kosovo - KFOR mission strengthens troops

The NATO-led KFOR mission in Kosovo said it sent "additional troops and patrols" to northern Kosovo this week.

Since 1999, the "Kosovo Force", or KFOR for short, has had the task of ensuring a secure environment in the region and ensuring a "stable, democratic, multi-ethnic and peaceful Republic of Kosovo".

Last week, the Serbian military applied to the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR for permission to enter Kosovo with 1,000 men.

A corresponding letter was handed over to KFOR officers by a Serbian army delegation at the Merdare border crossing between Serbia and Kosova on Friday (December 16), Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said.

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However, US diplomats had already stated in advance that such a permit would not be granted.

Nevertheless, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Thursday evening on the state television channel RTS that he would apply for it.

Vucic referred to a 1999 UN Security Council resolution that mentions the presence of Serb security forces in Kosovo as a possibility.

However, this would be limited to a narrow mandate and strictly dependent on the approval of KFOR.

According to media reports, a Serbian military convoy rolled towards the Kosovar borders in mid-December

.