NATO is sending additional troops of its Kosovo Force (KFOR) to the Kosovo-Serbia border due to the deteriorating situation in Kosovo.
The military alliance made the announcement in a Friday, September 29th, press release. Exactly how many troops are involved was not disclosed.
While Serbia-Kosovo relations have been dire for some time, a new level of intensity was reached when, last Sunday, a heavily armed group of about 30 Serbian militants had holed themselves up in a monastery in northern Kosovo after killing an Albanian-Kosovar policeman.
Three attackers lost their lives in the ensuing shootout with Kosovo forces.
Following recriminations by Pristina, who had offered video evidence that Milan Radoičić, the controversial Kosovo Serb politician and businessman, had taken part in the skirmish, Radoičić admitted to the fact on Friday.
In the meantime, the U.S. has said it was monitoring a “troubling” deployment of a “large Serbian force.”
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby spoke of a destabilizing development to reporters, according to Reuters, as he called on Serbia to withdraw those forces.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also spoke with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and “expressed concern about Serbian military mobilisations”, according to a statement following their call.
Kurti said later on social media that he had “requested increased assistance against Serbia’s warfare plans” from the U.S.
In a phone call on Friday with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pleaded with the Serbian president for de-escalation.
Tanjug news agency reports that Vučić said his phone call with Blinken had been “long and by no means easy.”
While both parties agreed on the need for de-escalation and a significantly greater role for KFOR in keeping the peace in Serb-majority northern Kosovo, he had denied “untruths” about Serbian forces being on full combat alert since he had not signed any such order.
