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Albania’s prime minister says Nato should re-establish control of northern Kosovo or face continued violence between Serbs and Albanians in the region.
Edi Rama, a member of the military alliance, spoke to the Financial Times after Serbian paramilitary forces took a monastery hostage in northern Kosovo, killing at least four people, including an Albanian policeman.
“Kosovo is a hotspot,” Rama said. “Over the years, it has become a no-man’s land, where various criminal activities are intertwined with rising nationalism. The lines between crime and politics have been blurred.”
NATO said it would deploy the peacekeeping troops needed to stabilize the situation, and Germany and Britain have pledged to send hundreds more troops to the existing 4,500 troops to control the area. The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia have also called on NATO to step up its presence and calm tensions.
Kosovo accused Serbia of backing the attack and moved troops closer to the Kosovo border, signaling its bellicose intentions. Belgrade denies any such plans but sheltered Milan Radojčić, the leader of the militia that besieged the monastery. After the attack on the monastery, Kosovo authorities discovered a large amount of weapons, including explosives, heavy artillery and military vehicles.
Albanians are by far the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade has not yet recognized itself as an independent state – a step taken by the United States and most EU countries. The Serb minority, concentrated in northern Kosovo, rejects Pristina’s authority and has staged numerous protests and blockades over the past year.
The European Union, the United States and other Western powers had tried to mediate talks between Serbia and Kosovo, but despite coming close to a deal in March, the proposals ultimately collapsed amid disputed municipal elections in northern Kosovo.
Rama advocated a “high-level meeting” involving the leaders of France and Germany and re-engagement with the United States. “This is the best way out of this never-ending madness.” said the Albanian leader, who had drawn attention to Kosovo’s deteriorating security situation during a NATO summit in July.
The goal, he said, is “full recognition of Kosovo in the European Union and the United Nations. Changing the course of history is not easy and it requires leadership. But if France and Germany can do it (after World War II), if Saudi Arabia and If Israel can do it, then we know it will happen.”
Rama has long stayed out of the Kosovo conflict, instead building friendly ties with Belgrade and seeking to make progress on the Western Balkans’ path to EU membership. But given the rising security threats to Albanians in Kosovo and across the region, Rama said he had to tell the truth.
Rama said destabilization in the Western Balkans was in Moscow’s interest. Russia has long supported Serbia but does not recognize Kosovo’s independence. Belgrade has resisted Western calls to impose sanctions on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
“The Kremlin is also eager to see a mini-Donbas in Kosovo and stoke the fires of separatism in central Europe,” Rama said. While he did not provide evidence of Russian involvement in the recent escalation of tensions, he suggested that the Kremlin had intervened It’s “the simplest inference you can make.” They do it all over the world, from Africa to the Middle East, so of course they’re going to try it in Europe. . . Kosovo has also been a (tool) for the Russians. “
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