Serbia will not send military forces into Kosovo, Vučić insists

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Serbia’s president says he has no intention of ordering Serbian troops across the border into Kosovo, despite warnings from U.S. officials of an “unprecedented” buildup in Belgrade.

Aleksandar Vucic said in a statement to the Financial Times on Saturday that he would withdraw Serbian troops from the area because an escalation in the conflict would be counterproductive to Belgrade’s EU aspirations.

“Why is this good for Belgrade?” Vucic said. “What would be the idea? To destroy the position we have built over a year? To destroy this in one day? Serbia does not want war.”

On Friday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States had observed an “unprecedented buildup of advanced Serbian artillery, tanks and mechanized infantry units” on the Kosovo border, calling it a “very volatile development.”

“We call on Serbia to withdraw its troops from the border and contribute to lowering temperatures and tensions,” Kirby said, adding that Vucic and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken about ways to de-escalate the situation.

A violent standoff near a monastery in Serb-majority northern Kosovo left at least four people dead in recent days, including a Kosovo police officer, as international efforts to ease tensions stepped up.

Kirby said the attack was “well-coordinated and planned,” adding that the scale of the weapons cache discovered afterward threatened the safety of Kosovo officials and international personnel, including NATO forces.

Vucic told the Financial Times that Washington’s warning was disproportionate because the number of Serbian troops on the ground was dwindling.

“Last year we had 14,000 personnel near the administrative boundaries, today we have 7,500 and we will reduce that number to 4,000,” he said.

“Serbia’s sending of troops to the administrative lines is a pure lie… Serbia will not benefit from this, as it will jeopardize its position in the EU-initiated negotiations with Pristina.”

The EU has said it will not admit Serbia and Kosovo into the bloc until they normalize relations.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan held talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Friday to discuss EU-sponsored dialogue as the only way out of the crisis.

After a brief but bloody war in the late 1990s, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia and the majority of Serbians living in Kosovo have never recognized its statehood. Serbian nationalists rejected Pristina’s authority.

The European Union, the United States and other Western powers had tried to mediate the talks, but despite coming close to a deal in March, the proposals ultimately collapsed amid disputed municipal elections in northern Kosovo, where Serbia has the majority population.

Kurti told The Associated Press that “[Serbs]want to turn back the clock” to a time when Kosovo still belonged to them. “They’re looking for a time machine. They want to go back 30 years. But that’s not going to happen.”

Milan Radoičić, the hardline Serbian political leader in northern Kosovo, admitted responsibility for this month’s attack, saying he wanted to foment resistance against Kurti’s government. He added that authorities in Belgrade were unaware of his plans and did not help him.

Both Vucic and Kurti have called in recent days for the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force to strengthen its presence in northern Kosovo. Nato said on Friday it would do just that, including by sending hundreds of additional British troops.

“We will always continue to ensure that our commanders have the resources and flexibility that KFOR requires to carry out its mission,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday. “We stand ready to further adjust KFOR as needed. Force posture.”

KFOR consists of approximately 4,500 soldiers.

Faced with Serbia’s dissatisfaction with the violence, Vucic has recently been forced to reform his political group and announce general and local elections. However, there will be no election for the presidency.

“We want to have a clean mandate in the future and become a sovereign state,” Vucic said in a televised speech on Friday. “The opposition asked for elections and they (succeeded), let them prepare.”