Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks during an annual public address in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, amid recent tensions in Kosovo and a difficult economic situation.
Kosovo police officers guard checkpoint on the road near the northern Kosovo border crossing of Jarinje, along the Kosovo-Serbia border, Kosovo, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. Serbia on Thursday revoked combat readiness of its troops on the border with Kosovo as local Serbs started removing more than a dozen of the roadblocks they had set up in the north of the state, in a sign of easing of tensions that have sparked fears of a renewed conflict in the Balkans.
Serbia says KFOR rejected its forces' return to Kosovo
Serbia's president says NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo have rejected its demand for Serbian security forces be allowed to return to the breakaway province amid ongoing tensions
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks during an annual public address in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, amid recent tensions in Kosovo and a difficult economic situation.
Darko Vojinovic - staff, AP
Kosovo police officers guard checkpoint on the road near the northern Kosovo border crossing of Jarinje, along the Kosovo-Serbia border, Kosovo, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. Serbia on Thursday revoked combat readiness of its troops on the border with Kosovo as local Serbs started removing more than a dozen of the roadblocks they had set up in the north of the state, in a sign of easing of tensions that have sparked fears of a renewed conflict in the Balkans.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo have rejected a demand from Serbia that its security forces be allowed to return to the breakaway province amid ongoing tensions, Serbia's president said Sunday.
The KFOR peacekeepers, who deployed in Kosovo in 1999 after the NATO alliance's bombing forced the Serbian army and police out of the territory, said in their response that there's no need for the return of the Serbian forces, President Aleksandar Vucic said.
Serbia made its demand in mid-December when tensions in Kosovo soared over the arrest of an ethnic Serb former police officer that led to roadblocks in the north of the country where ethnic Serbs mostly live.
Those tensions were later defused amid European Union and U.S. efforts to push forward an EU-mediated dialogue between the former Balkan war foes. Serbia doesn't recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence and the dispute remains a potential flashpoint.
In the most recent incident, an off-duty Kosovo security officer shot and wounded two ethnic Serbs last week in central Kosovo, including an 11-year-old boy. The man was arrested after the incident near the town of Strpce, Kosovo police said.
Hundreds of people protested on Sunday in Strpce because of the shooting, demanding more security for the tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. Another group of several hundred people gathered in the northern town of Mitrovica, in a rare protest against Vucic's policies that they say are too conciliatory toward Kosovo.
The conflict in Kosovo erupted when separatist ethnic Albanians launched a rebellion against Serbia's rule and Belgrade responded with a brutal crackdown that prompted the NATO intervention. About 13,000 people died in the conflict, mostly ethnic Albanians.
Serbia insists that hundreds of its security forces have the right to redeploy under a U.N. resolution that followed the war. Belgrade has said the return of its troops to Kosovo would help lower tensions, a claim vehemently rejected by Kosovo and Western officials.
Vucic said KFOR's response to Serbia's demand was expected because of Western backing for Kosovo's independence. Serbia has relied on Russia and China in its bid to retain its claim to its former province, which many Serbs consider the nation's heartland.
The West "was not worried about the wounding of the Serb boys,” Vucic complained on pro-government Pink television. “I did not expect a different answer from KFOR.”
Serbia and Kosovo have been told they must normalize relations if they want to advance toward EU membership. A senior U.S. delegation is set to visit the region next week to help push forward the deadlocked EU-mediated talks.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(1) comment
Uncle Joe will get another war going so more money can be Laundered. The sale of Ukraine to BLACK ROCK is almost complete
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.