Serbian troops on Kosovo border in state of ‘combat readiness’ - Al Jazeera English

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has ordered that ‘all measures beryllium taken to support the Serbian radical successful Kosovo’.

Serbia has placed its information forces connected the borderline with Kosovo successful a “full authorities of combat readiness”, elder officials person said, amid progressively strained relations with its neighbour and contempt calls by the European Union and NATO for tensions to easiness betwixt the erstwhile wartime foes.

“Serbia’s president … ordered the Serbian service to beryllium connected the highest level of combat readiness, that is to the level of the usage of equipped force,” Serbia’s Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said successful a connection precocious connected Monday.

He added that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic besides ordered the peculiar equipped forces to beryllium beefed up from the existing 1,500 to 5,000, Vucevic said.

The country’s Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic said helium “ordered the afloat combat readiness” of constabulary and different information units and that they beryllium placed nether the bid of the service main of unit according to “their operational plan”.

He said successful a connection that helium acted connected the orders of President Vucic truthful that “all measures beryllium taken to support the Serbian radical successful Kosovo”.

The orders from Vucic travel aft Serbian service main General Milan Mojsilovic was dispatched to the borderline with Kosovo connected Sunday, though it was not instantly wide what the caller orders mean connected the borderline wherever Serbian troops person been connected alert for immoderate time.

Northern Kosovo has been particularly connected borderline since November erstwhile hundreds of taste Serb workers embedded successful the Kosovo constabulary arsenic good arsenic the judicial subdivision — specified arsenic judges and prosecutors — walked retired of their jobs successful protest astatine a arguable determination to prohibition Serbs surviving successful Kosovo from utilizing Belgrade-issued licence plates.

Serbia, which does not recognise Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, has been sabre-rattling and threatening unit against its erstwhile state — and present autarkic Kosovo — for a agelong time, and the ongoing hostility remains a imaginable flash point. Western efforts to mediate a solution truthful acold person failed.

Earlier connected Monday, NATO-led peacekeepers said they were investigating a shooting incidental successful the restive bluish region of Kosovo, and urged for calm arsenic Serbia’s apical subject officials inspected their troops connected the borderline successful a amusement of combat readiness.

The incidental connected Sunday evening took spot successful Zubin Potok, a municipality wherever section taste Serbs person been operating roadworthy barricades for the past 2 weeks and wherever tensions person been moving high.

The peacekeepers, known arsenic KFOR, said the shooting happened adjacent 1 of their patrols, involving chartless people. A connection said nary 1 was injured and “we are moving to found each the facts”.

#KFOR is investigating an indirect occurrence incidental connected 25 December successful the adjacent proximity of a @NATO_KFOR patrol. The incidental progressive chartless equipped radical successful the Zubin Potok area. pic.twitter.com/1FsznDeWae

— @NATO – KFOR (@NATO_KFOR) December 26, 2022

“It is important for each progressive to debar immoderate rhetoric oregon actions that tin origin tensions and escalate the situation,” KFOR said successful a statement. “We expect each actors to refrain from provocative shows of unit and to question the champion solution to guarantee the information and information of each communities.”

Fears of unit person soared since the commencement of Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine. The United States and astir EU countries person recognised Kosovo’s independence, portion Serbia has relied connected Russia and China successful its bid to support assertion connected its erstwhile province.

The rising tensions impact respective issues amid planetary efforts to measurement up mediation efforts. Most recently, taste Serbs successful the northbound enactment up roadblocks successful protestation of an apprehension of a erstwhile Serb constabulary officer.

Kosovo’s authorities has asked NATO troops — deployed successful 1999 aft NATO bombed Serbia into leaving Kosovo — to region the Serb roadblocks. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, KFOR commandant Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia and Lars-Gunnar Wigermark, who heads an EU instrumentality and bid mission, met connected Monday to sermon the situation, KFOR said connected Twitter.

Kurti’s bureau said that “the communal decision from this gathering is that state of question should beryllium restored and that determination should beryllium nary barricades connected immoderate road.”

For its part, Serbia has asked KFOR to deploy up to 1,000 of its troops successful the Serb-populated northbound of Kosovo to support Kosovo Serbs from alleged harassment by taste Albanians, who are the bulk successful the country. The petition truthful acold has not been granted.

Adding to the tensions, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije was denied introduction into Kosovo astatine a borderline crossing connected Monday, aft saying helium would similar to present a bid connection for Serbian Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated connected January 7.