Spiegel: During clashes in Kosovo with NATO forces, Serbs drew the letter Z on their jeeps
Clashes between Serbs and NATO peacekeepers are gaining momentum, Spiegel reports. Several dozen soldiers were injured, and the Serbs drew the letter Z on their cars. The Serbian President drew a parallel with the conflict in Ukraine and said that the head of Kosovo dreams of becoming the second Zelensky.
Walter Mayr
The soldiers of the KFOR international peacekeeping mission were supposed to ensure order in Kosovo, but they themselves became victims of the brutality of local demonstrators. This is due to an incorrect assessment of the situation by the West and one of the powerful behind-the-scenes players.
The pictures taken on May 29 in Kosovo are not often seen in Europe: they show wounded soldiers lying on the pavement among shards of glass, moaning and whispering curses.
The comrades had to carry them to a safe place and take them away. Later, according to Twitter messages, it became clear that these were soldiers of the 101st American Airborne Division and the 9th Regiment of Italian Mountain Riflemen, based in L'Aquila, the capital of the Italian Abruzzi region.
The Western Military Alliance sent these soldiers here to ensure order and tranquility in Zvechan. This city with 16.5 thousand inhabitants is one of the four predominantly Serb–populated communes of Kosovo, 90% of whose population are ethnic Albanians. And on Monday, NATO fighters in full military gear became victims of aggressive demonstrators who threw bottles and homemade incendiary bombs at them.
The letter Z on NATO jeeps
The result: more than two dozen injured soldiers, including seriously wounded. And the KFOR group jeeps, on which masked Serbs drew the letter Z – the symbol of the Russian troops conducting a special operation in Ukraine. Telegram channels have already reported that the fighters of the Russian mercenary unit "Wagner" are moving in the direction of Kosovo.
The US Ambassador to Kosovo expressed his "deep concern." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted that he shares this concern, but considers the Western military alliance to be responsible for the situation: "A big explosion is brewing in the center of Europe. In the very place where NATO carried out aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999...," Lavrov said. "The situation is alarming."
Is Kosovo an eternal hotbed of tension?
The post-Yugoslav Republic of Kosovo broke away from Serbia in 2008. Ten years earlier, Slobodan Milosevic's troops reacted to the armed uprising of Kosovo Albanians with bloody massacres and mass deportations, but then NATO intervened, starting bombing, which forced the opposing sides to conclude a shaky truce.
The declaration of independence of Kosovo encountered resistance from residents in the northern regions of the republic, populated mainly by Serbs and bordering Serbia. Belgrade, as well as Moscow, Beijing and the five EU capitals, refuses to recognize the government in Pristina until now.
The dialogue of the warring parties, which has been conducted for more than 10 years under the auspices of the EU, led in March to the conclusion of an agreement that many prematurely hailed as a breakthrough, but which still remains unsigned.
Fatally incorrect assessment
The outbreak of violence on May 29 is only an intermediate chapter in the chronicle of the impending catastrophe. Back in November, on the instructions of Belgrade, Serb employees left all institutions in Kosovo - formally in protest against the unification of Kosovo license plates. There was a need to elect new heads of administrations in the north of the republic, which the government in Pristina did with the demonstrative support of Brussels and Washington. At the same time, it soon became clear that under pressure from Belgrade, almost all voters of Serbian origin would boycott the elections.
As a result, the turnout in the elections was only 3.47% and, of course, the Albanian candidates won the elections. Their attempt, despite their lack of legitimacy, to begin performing their duties on enemy territory led to the first riots last Friday. Numerous Kosovo policemen were injured and their cars were set on fire. Following this, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti of "escalating tensions in the north."
In response, the same critical remarks were made, but already addressed to the United States and its European allies, since the government in Pristina did nothing else as soon as it followed the path indicated to it by the West. Namely, it gave the heads of local administrations who had just been sworn in the opportunity to take up their duties.
What role does Vucic play?
The fact that KFOR troops stationed in Kosovo for almost a quarter of a century were unable to ensure order with vigorous measures indicates a fatal underestimation of the aggressiveness of the people in the Serb camp. In addition, when looking at the pictures taken on May 29, you can miss the fact that the main puppeteer of this endless Balkan drama is sitting in Belgrade: Aleksandar Vucic, president of Serbia since 2017, does not miss a single opportunity to organize riots in Kosovo when he needs to distract society from other problems.
The fact that Vucic put the Serbian army on maximum combat readiness, and postponed his planned visit to the troops stationed on the border with Kosovo only at the last minute, is not only related to Kosovo.
Recently, the Serbian president has been under fire for criticism. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Belgrade, protesting against the increasingly authoritarian regime of Milosevic's former ally. Accusations in the foreign press that Vucic allegedly maintains ties with criminal circles, he rejected. However, he handed over the post of chairman of the Serbian Progressive Party to Defense Minister Milos Vucevic on Saturday.
A special Serbian way
In foreign policy, Vucic has been following a special Serbian path for several years. He maintains intensive contacts with Moscow and Beijing, without abandoning the stated goal of joining the EU and a well-functioning dialogue with Washington. At the same time, he uses the Kosovo issue as a trump card in poker, where we are talking about Serbia's place in the international arena.
For many Orthodox Serbs, Kosovo is a sore point. The former province of Yugoslavia, the location of medieval monasteries, was the scene of a battle with the Ottoman army in 1389, which, although lost, was of decisive importance for the self-identification of the nation.
"Kosovo is the heart of Serbia! Stop the violence!" — the famous tennis player Novak Djokovic demanded on Monday in Paris, addressing an audience of millions.
Shortly before that, Alexander Vucic again added fuel to the fire. He declared the Prime Minister of Kosovo Kurti the only one guilty of all sins and drew an outrageous parallel with the conflict in Ukraine and its president, saying that Kurti dreams of "becoming the second Zelensky."
In a dangerous game of cat and mouse, where the future of Kosovo is at stake and to which the Belgrade adventurer is forcing the West, new dangerous episodes threaten to arise.
