Did Putin send Wagner mercenaries to Kosovo?

“Russia wants to increase instability”

Created: 12/28/2022, 9:06 p.m

By: Patrick Mayer

According to local reports from Kosovo, Russia's Wagner mercenaries are causing trouble in the Balkan region.

Serbia's president railed against the Kosovar government - and was criticized by Berlin.

Munich/Mitrovica - Kosovo.

Less than 11,000 square kilometers in size.

Around 1.8 million inhabitants.

After the Ukraine war, the small country is the next focal point in Europe.

Kosovo: New tensions with Serbia in the Balkans

It is located in the middle of the Balkans, bordering on Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia.

And above all, it has a border of around 350 kilometers with Serbia, to which it once belonged as a sub-region.

But: In 2008 Kosovo, inhabited mostly by Albanians, declared itself independent, which the government in Belgrade has not accepted to this day.

In the past few months, the decades-long conflict between Serbs and Albanian Kosovars has flared up again.

Militant Serbs, who make up the minority in northern Kosovo, are backed by Belgrade, which in turn is close to Moscow.

Now, shortly after Christmas, the conflict has reached a new level of escalation.

Allegedly involved: Vladimir Putin, Russia's ruler.

Focus on Kosovo: suspected Serbian road barricades near Mitrovica.

© IMAGO/Vudi Xhymshiti

Kosovo: Are Russia's Wagner mercenaries causing trouble in Serbia?

The Euronews TV channel reported this Wednesday (December 28) that according to local reports, Wagner mercenaries sent by Russia were causing unrest in the region.

This cannot be verified independently.

Most recently, militant Serbs blocked roads around Mitrovica with heavy trucks.

Shots were also said to have been fired.

Mitrovica, with its approximately 60,000 inhabitants, is considered to be particularly explosive because the city is divided into southern, Albanian and northern, Serbian districts.

According to the report, Serbia's pro-Russian stance is also behind the current escalation.

“The idea of ​​Serbia and Russia is to try together to create conflicts and crises wherever the West plays a role.

And to increase instability in the region, to expand the influence of Russia and Serbia," explains Skender Pertreshi, an expert at the Kosovar Center for Security Studies, in the report.

The Serbian Army is ready, trained, courageous and determined to protect Serbia's interests.

Milos Vucevic, Serbian Defense Minister

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has sharply criticized the Kosovar government

It continues to be fueled: Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić, who has repeatedly poured fuel on the fire in the threatening Kosovo-Serbia conflict, has now met the Serbian-Orthodox patriarch, who is being refused entry into Kosovo by the authorities in Pristina.

In a press conference, Vucic also accused the Kosovar government of allegedly fueling the conflict "with lies" and of wanting to expel the Serb population from Kosovo.

also read

Ukraine reports wave of Russian desertions in Luhansk – even local military leaders already retreating?

READ

Putin cancels trip at short notice – the Kremlin's reasoning arouses suspicion

READ

Lindner's turning point - is the FDP leader preparing to break the traffic light?

READ

Putin propagandists want to "strike" against Germany - "I'm deadly serious"

READ

Bachmut new epicenter of the war: Ukraine is apparently preparing for bloody urban warfare

READ

Fancy a journey of discovery?

My space

On December 26, Vučić put the Serbian army on high alert.

Among other things, pictures of heavy wheeled howitzers near the border could be seen.

The military presence was apparently increased from 1,500 to 5,000 soldiers.

The third army brigade of the Serbian armed forces is stationed in the small town of Kursumlija - around 16 kilometers from the border.

Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic with Serbian troops.

© Twitter/@mo_i_vs

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, criticized Serbia's "unacceptable nationalist rhetoric" and called for the barricades to be dismantled.

Earlier, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said in a TV interview: "It is up to us to find a political solution.

Nobody wants conflict.

But the Serbian army is ready, trained, courageous and determined to protect Serbia's interests.” With help from Moscow?

Kosovo conflict: did Russia send Wagner mercenaries to support Serbia?

At the beginning of August, Russia assured friendly Serbia that it would support them.

"We absolutely support Serbia," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the 

 at the time: "We support Belgrade's peaceful and constructive position in this regard."

The Serbian side demands the same from Albanian Kosovars, for example that passports must be surrendered.

Does Russia's "support" now go so far as to send in the notorious Wagner mercenaries?