TIRANA, August 21 – Serbia’s president called on NATO on Sunday to “do their job” in Kosovo or he said as quoted by AP that Serbia itself will move to protect its minority there.
The fiery televised address to his nation by President Aleksandar Vucic followed the collapse of political talks between him and Kosovo PM Albin Kurti earlier this week mediated by the European Union in Brussels.
“We have nowhere to go, we are cornered,” Vucic said. “We will save our people from persecution and pogroms, if NATO does not want to do it.”
He also claimed that Kosovo Albanian “gangs” need to be stopped from crossing into northern Kosovo, where most of the Kosovo Serbs live. He offered no proof for the claim.
Tension between Kosovo and Serbia resurfaced late last month when Pristina declared that Serbian identity documents and vehicle license plates would no longer be valid on Kosovo territory. Kosovo government head Kurti postponed the implementation of the measure for a month, to September 1, after apparent pressure from the West.
There are widespread fears in the West that Russia could encourage its ally Serbia into an armed intervention in northern Kosovo that would further destabilize the Balkans and shift at least some world and NATO attention from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Vucic said Serbia will “work hard” to reach a “compromise solution in the next 10 days” and accused the Kosovo leadership of “only being interested in abolishing any trace of the Serbian state in Kosovo.”
Vucic also claimed, again without proof, that Kosovo’s government wanted “the final removal of the Serbian people from Kosovo” – something that has been repeatedly denied by Kosovo officials.
Serb President criticized NATO for increasing its presence in the northern part of Kosovo.
“It’s not your job to watch if someone is crossing barricades but to protect Serbs from intrusions of the Kosovo police in the north,” said Vucic in a speech full of threats which was announced some days ago.
EU-mediated “crisis management” talks last Thursday between Serbia and Kosovo failed to quell rising tensions between the Balkan neighbors, but further dialogue will take place, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said after the Brussels talks ended.
“Unfortunately, we did not get to an agreement today… But it is not the end of the story,” said Borrell. “The discussion will resume in the coming days… I won’t give up,” he said. /Compiled from wires by argumentum.al
