Jan. 1 () –
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has once again asked NATO this Sunday to increase its military presence despite the lifting of the barricades that the Serb majority in northern Kosovo maintained for more than two weeks in protest against the Government of Pristina .
“A significant increase in NATO soldiers and military equipment in our country would improve security and peace in Kosovo, as well as in the entire Western Balkans region,” he said in an interview with the German newspaper ‘Welt’ this Sunday. .
Despite the complete withdrawal of the barricades, which confirms some relief in tension in the area after one of the most dangerous clashes in recent years between Kosovo and Serbia, Kurti has assured that there are at least 16 blockades in four communities.
In this sense, he has argued that “an increase in the number of soldiers in the peacekeeping force” will help the defense of Kosovo in the face of “Serb artillery (installed) along the border with Kosovo and the constant statements ominous actions of the Serbian and Russian states”.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, announced on Wednesday the beginning of the withdrawal of the barricades after receiving guarantees that the Government of Kosovo would not deploy its “special forces” in the Kosovar Serb populations.
The crisis broke out in September 2021 over vehicle registration powers and has ended with an institutional vacuum in the Serb-majority populations of northern Kosovo, attacks on EU mission patrols, arrests of former Kosovar Serb police officers and an initiative by Belgrade to deploy the Serbian Army in the area.
