Strange States: The Balkanization of Yugoslavia
The Powder Kegs of Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina & Republika Srpska
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After landing in Pristina from Vienna, Nick threw his bag in a one star hotel room before making a pilgrimage to its Bill Clinton statue. After all, Kosovo wouldn’t be a partially recognized country today without the intervention of the former US President and the American & NATO troops that remain.
Unknown to the majority of American taxpayers, one of the largest US military outposts in the world, Camp Bondsteel, exists in Kosovo to insure the survival of a Muslim nation belatedly carved from Serbia in 2008 following the 1992 breakup of the Republic of Yugoslavia. Capable of holding up to 7,000 troops on 1,000 acres, the base is also one of the largest in Europe.
The statue on Pristina’s Clinton Street memorializes the date (3/24/99) when NATO began a brutal three month bombing campaign of Serbia’s infrastructure in order to stop its “genocide” of Kosovo (Albanian) Muslims. The civil wars that balkanized the Yugoslavian Confederation lasted from 1991 to 2001, with NATO’s creation (without a referendum) of the rump state of Kosovo taking another seven years. Kosovo is still not recognized by China, Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Spain, Slovakia & Serbia, but its independence is recognized by 97 out of 193 UN member states, most of them US allies.
The Ottoman Turk’s ruled the Balkans for centuries after defeating the Kingdom of Serbia in the 1389 Battle of Kosovo. More than 400 years later Kosovo was ceded by the Ottomans to Serbia and Montenegro after their defeat in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, becoming part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats & Slovenes from 1918-29. This confederation became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929-1941) whose monarchy was deposed in 1945 (after Nazi occupation) by Tito and his partisans who then formed the socialist Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia with a constitution establishing the Autonomous Province of Kosovo within the Republic of Serbia. As a result, tensions built up over the decades with Kosovars demanding recognition as a constituent Yugoslav republic as early as the 1980s. President Slobodan Milošević of Serbia abolished Kosovo’s autonomy in 1989, increasing calls for independence by its citizens and the formation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
When Milošević became President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1997 (Serbia & Montenegro), anger exploded into the Kosovo War of 1998, with the United Nations taking over administration until Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Milošević later became infamous for being the first sitting president convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia. He died March 2006 in The Hague before his trial was completed. According to Human Rights Watch and The Red Cross, the KLA was also guilty of war crimes. The KLA’s former leader and President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, was belatedly charged with war crimes in June 2020, resigned in November the same year and was then arrested and moved to the Kosovo Tribunal in The Hague. According to journalist Kit Klarenberg in his 4/24/22 substack.com piece there was also an Al Qaeda connection to the KLA:
“…after the KLA's initial burst of savagery, similar strikes were carried out every few months, leading the US State Department to classify the group as a terrorist organisation at the start of 1998. Its analysis noted the KLA was financed by the drugs trade, organised crime, a variety of governments — most notably the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — and wealthy individuals in the Middle East, including Osama bin Laden.
The al-Qaeda chief had established a base of operations in Albania in 1994, precipitating the steady flow of jihadists from over half a dozen countries in the Middle East into Kosovo subsequently. One KLA unit was even led by the brother of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's cofounder and bin Laden's deputy.”
Still not fully recognized by many countries in the world, and without a seat at the UN because of a Russian veto, Kosovo’s sovereignty is maintained by KFOR, the US Army and NATO’s peacekeeping force at Camp Bondsteel.
After a couple of nights in the sketchy hotel, Nick caught a hopper to Podgorica, Montenegro. There he rented a car to explore “Titograd” and the Central Balkans. The city was named after the aforementioned Josep Broz Tito from 1946-92, the WW II guerrilla leader who organized Yugoslav partisans to resist the Nazi occupation in April 1941 and then led the post-war nation as president until 1980. When Nick first visited Yugoslavia in 1977, traveling from Trieste, Italy to Pula, Rijeka, Rab, Zadar, Dubrovnik and Bihać, a photo of Tito hung Stalin-like in every shop. Yet, Tito was the first communist leader to defy the Soviet Union in 1948, seeking an independent path forward for his country. Montenegro joined NATO in 2017.
Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruled from 284-305, was born just outside Podgorica in the settlement of Doclea, named after an Illyrian tribe in the province of Dalmatia. What followed Roman rule over the centuries was Ostrogoth, Byzantine, Venetian and Hungarian occupations before the Ottomans captured the city in 1474, constructing massive Ribinica fortress, the remains of which can be seen today above the river of the same name. The Turks ruled until 1878, when following the Montenegro-Ottoman war (sparked by a massacre of civilians) the Kingdom of Montenegro was recognized by the Treaty of Berlin. Following the balkanization of Tito’s Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprised of the Republics of Serbia and Montenegro (both with majority Orthodox populations) existed from 1992 to 2006.
Heading southwest to the Adriatic coast on the M2 after an exploration of the nondescript city, Nick crossed the largest body of water in Southern Europe, Lake Skadar National Park, stretching between Montenegro and Albania. He then switchbacked over serrated karst coastal mountains to the exquisite beaches of Petrovac. Cruising north on the E80 he was shocked to encounter hundreds of sunburnt budget travelers crowding the sidewalks of Budva after the dearth of same in Podgorica. The red-roofed city jutting into the Adriatic is exquisite, but the masses thronging its modern town were unbearable after the deserted drive from the capital.
Heading north through more congestion a never ending strip of warehouses lined the road to Kotor (Tivat), an ancient town with a Venetian fortress situated at the southern end of a gulf of the same name. Initially appearing to be a massive fjord, the Gulf of Kotor is (geologically speaking) a river-carved canyon filled by the Adriatic. With cruise ships lining Kotor’s quays and tourists thronging its historic streets, Nick fled north along the east side of the gulf to the quaint town of Perast to bed down for the night.
After negotiating in German with a charming fellow for a room, he wandered the stunning setting, marveling at the sunset on karst peaks and the narrow channel directly across from town leading to the Adriatic. The next morning he drove around the inlet through Herceg Novi and then headed north for the Croatian Border. From immigration it was a short drive along high cliffs with epic views over Adriatic islands to Dubrovnik, the Byzantine and Venetian stronghold and tourist destination extraordinaire. Founded in the 7th century as Ragusa, it came under attack from Yugoslav troops during the 1991 Croatian War of Independence and suffered damage from relentless shelling. It was a homecoming of sorts, because he was there 42 years earlier when it was part of Yugoslavia. Croatia has been a member of NATO since 2009.
After a few hours strolling Dubrovnik’s historic streets, Nick continued north on Croatia’s two-lane M8 beside the distinctive limestone shores and forested islands of Dalmatia to Bosnia & Herzegovina’s only outlet to the sea at Neum. He passed through two immigration check points within 10 km of each other before re-entering Croatia to head north to Metković and the main border crossing with Bosnia & Herzegovina on the Neretva River. After immigration he headed northeast on the E73 through the Neretva valley to Sarajevo on one of Europe’s epic drives.
Just twenty kilometers from the border is Medjugorje, a pilgrimage site for Christians from around the world, where an apparition of Mary was seen by six children. Further on is Mostar, the largest city in Herzegovina (the southern part of the country). Mostar was the scene of heavy fighting after Bosnia & Herzegovina declared independence in April 1992 between allied Croatian and Bosnian forces versus the Yugoslav Army, then between each other. Much of the city was destroyed, including the 16th century Ottoman Bridge, and 2,000 citizens were killed. The high divers of the reconstructed bridge are impressive because of the narrow Neretva gorge they plunge into below.
Between Mostar and Sarajevo is where the two-lane road becomes inspiring as the Neretva River slices through the Balkans. The occupation of Bosnia & Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian Empire was ratified by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, with total annexation taking place in 1908, angering Serbia. Sarajevo became a sophisticated city under Hapsburg rule, with the Austro-Hungarians testing much of their engineering and architectural plans for Vienna there. For example, Sarajevo’s tram system predates that of Vienna.
The city is known today not only for the Winter Olympic Games of 1984, but also the Siege of Sarajevo, the longest in modern military history, longer than the Siege of Stalingrad and Leningrad at 1,425 days (April 1992 to February 1996). After Bosnia & Herzegovina declared independence in April 1992, Bosnian Serbs immediately set up a force of 13,000 with artillery, tanks and small arms in the hills surrounding the city to insure their own nation: Republika Srpska.
The subsequent siege and atrocities that followed, snipers picking off citizens in the streets and indescriminate mortar barrages of markets, took the lives of 14,000 Sarajevo citizens over four years. The Butchers of Bosnia: Ratko Mladić, General Chief of Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska forces, was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in 2017, as was the Republika’s first president, Radovan Karadžić, in 2016, both sentenced to life imprisonment.
Sarajevo is also infamous as the birthplace of WW I with the assassination of heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia, by Bosnian Serb and declared Yugoslav, Gavrilo Princip, in June 1914. Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia a month later, which exploded into a global conflagration soon after. Bosnia & Herzegovina became part of the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia following the war.
After an evening strolling the charming streets of Sarajevo along the Miljacka River, Nick headed south the next morning on the E762/M18, another local two-lane highway wending through charming villages. At Trnovo the road enters Republika Srpska, formed in 1992 to insure the safety of Bosnian Serbs at the outset of the civil war. It was Ambassador Richard Holbrooke’s Dayton Agreement of 1995 that gave international recognition to this intriguing two-state solution, both entities governed by their own parliaments. At least the section to Brod na Drini is paved, because once Nick passed over a rickety bridge to the southeast side of the Drina River and drove through Republika Srpska to Šćepan Polje to then cross a bridge over the Tara River above its confluence with the Piva into Montenegro, it was loose dirt and gravel.
In Montenegro the paved E762 rises after the sleepy immigration booth onto a plateau above the turquoise Piva River before entering one of the most spectacular canyon drives in Europe. Halfway through the Piva River Canyon a hair-raising bridge crosses into a tunnel blasted from solid rock. There is so little traffic a stop mid-span to soak in the dynamic scene is recommended. The tunnel descent to Piva Reservoir gives sporadic views of the exquisite canyon through windows carved from karst. The entire Piva Canyon drive is a feat of engineering.
The source of the Piva River is a reservoir of the same name, and the shoreline drive through unlit tunnels along a crumbling roadbed offers stunning views of the Balkans, but watch out for the occasional boulder. The drive back to Podgorica is a mixture of huge views and quaint towns before the steep descent along a cliff face into town and its compact airport.
Good news for the region came in September 2020, when President Vučić of Serbia and Prime Minister Hoti of Kosovo met at the White House to sign an agreement increasing economic activity between the two archenemies. Special Envoy Richard Grenell wrote in The Hill: “The parties have agreed to construct a roadway and railway link between their respective capitals, Belgrade and Pristina. They have committed to a joint feasibility study on options for linking the rail infrastructure to a deep-sea port in the Adriatic…All these agreements will enable a more free and efficient flow of people and goods across the border between Serbia and Kosovo.”
After Serbian security forces and KFOR troops faced off at two border checkpoints in September 2021, former Ambassador Grenell caused a stir in Europe and the US by making a private visit to the new EU built Serbia-Kosovo immigration facility at Merdare in November to not only ease tensions, but draw attention to the fact the normalization agreement had not been implemented. With a history of turmoil going back centuries, will the Balkans be a flashpoint of global conflict once again, Nick mused as his Austrian Air flight headed home. It wasn’t long after his departure Serbia supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovich said that the Kosovo Albanian authorities of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo are planning new steps to cancel the documents and car numbers issued by the Serbian leadership, to arrange "hell" for Kosovo Serbs. 'Considering the current political situation in the country and the region, we stated serious concern over the fact that the Albanian side in Kosovo and Metohija is preparing literally “hell” in the coming days,’ he said” (tellerreport.com 7/30/22)
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has issued a plea for peace in Kosovo amid rising tensions with Pristina. However, he also vowed to fight to the death if ethnic Serbs in the self-proclaimed republic are targeted for another pogrom. Vucic’s comments came as Pristina prepared to implement a controversial law requiring ethnic Serbs living in the disputed territory to replace their Serbian-issued vehicle registrations with Kosovo plates, starting on Monday. Kosovo also may require the replacement of other types of Serbian-issued documents, such as identification cards, and it will make a renewed attempt to ban entry or issue temporary papers to travelers with Serbian-issued documents or license plates.
Church bells rang in alarm across the northern part of the province on Sunday, amid reports that armed ethnic Albanians were gathering for another pogrom of the remaining Serbs – as had happened in 2004.” (rt.com 7/31/22)
“The government in Pristina and its backers in Brussels and Washington should stop their provocations and respect the rights of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday. Serbian troops were put on high alert and local residents in the north of the breakaway province erected barricades, as ethnic Albanian police prepared for a crackdown.” (rt.com 7/31/22)
“On Sunday evening, Vucic held talks with the KFOR leadership from the headquarters of the Serbian General Staff. After emerging from the building shortly before midnight, he told reporters he was optimistic about a peaceful resolution. ‘I hope this will de-escalate by tomorrow, and that we will be able to reach a solution in the coming days,’ Vucic said, adding that the KFOR commander will hold talks on dismantling the roadblocks with the local authorities in Kosovska Mitrovica.
‘In the coming weeks and months we face the hardest political fight ever, so I thank everyone for their restraint, most of all the Serbs in Kosovo,’ said Vucic. ‘There will be no surrender, and Serbia will win.’” (rt.com 8/1/22)
“‘Kosovar leaders know that Serbs will not be indifferent to a direct attack on their freedoms, and they are deliberately aggravating it in order to launch a violent scenario,’ Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, said.” (ibtimes.com 8/2/22)
“The claims of Russia establishing a military base in Serbia were made by Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Serbia Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko. ‘The establishment of a Russian military base in Serbia is a sovereign matter of the country itself. Plus it is a matter of Russia’s own interests,’ he said in a conversation with SM News.” (euroweeklynews.com 8/8/22)
“Serbia’s president called on NATO on Sunday to ‘do their job’ in Kosovo or he says Serbia itself will move to protect its minority in the breakaway province.The fiery televised address to his nation by President Aleksandar Vucic followed the collapse of political talks between Serbian and Kosovo leaders earlier this week mediated by the European Union in Brussels.
Serbia, along with its allies Russia and China, has refused to recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence.” (Omaha.com 8/21/22)
“Kosovo is challenging Serbia’s security and creating the risk of violent clashes in the region, President Alexander Vucic warned on Tuesday while addressing the national parliament. Vucic accused Kosovo authorities of exacerbating tensions on the territory’s border with Serbia by increasing the presence of special forces.
‘We are at a moment when Serbia, due to the steps of Pristina, is facing significant security challenges… I want to say that the presence of the special forces of Pristina police in the north of Kosovo and Metohija is increasing. I will also tell you about the strengthening of our posts,’ Vucic explained.” (rt.com 9/13/22)
“NATO has brought reserve troops to Kosovo for training, increasing the alliance’s presence in the breakaway province by up to 1,000 soldiers. As military tensions with Serbia simmer, a commander for the bloc said that more could be deployed in the near future. Colonel Christopher Samulski, a regional commander with NATO’s KFOR Kosovo mission, told reporters on Wednesday that the soldiers had been brought in ‘as part of normal contingency planning,’ Reuters reported.” (rt.com 9/21/22)
“Western countries have failed to explain why they have different points of view on Ukraine and Serbia’s territorial integrity, given that they support Kiev in its fight against Russia, but endorsed Kosovo’s independence, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday. In an address to the UN General Assembly in New York, the Serbian leader stated that his state respects the territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine, and that many describe the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev as ‘the first conflict on European soil since WWII.’ He said, however, that the truth about the violation of Serbia’s territorial integrity ‘is constantly unspoken.’
‘We ask for a clear answer to the question I’ve been asking… for years – what is the difference between the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, which was grossly violated,’ Vucic said, referring to the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
According to Vucic, Serbia ‘has never [set] foot’ on anybody’s territory, but this ‘did not prevent the 19 richest NATO countries from attacking a sovereign country without a decision by the UN Security Council.’” (rt.com 9/22/22)
“Republika Srpska (a Bosnia and Herzegovina entity) will cooperate with Russia, and the West must respect that, Serb Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik said in a commentary for TASS. ‘Our main foreign policy priority is successful cooperation with Serbia, Russia, our friend Hungary, with China and others who would like that. Of course, we will not shut our door to the West, we will try talking with them too, but they must learn that such communication will no longer be possible from a position of demand of total obedience and submission.’” (Tass.com 10/5/22)
“The EU’s pressure on Serbia is unacceptable, and the country's citizens should accept that the bloc doesn't want them, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin told the Novosti news site on Saturday. He added that Belgrade should instead turn its attention to ‘free countries that accept us without blackmail,’ such as Russia and China. ‘The question is not whether we want to join the EU, but whether the EU wants Serbia,’ Vulin told Novosti. ‘Judging by the insane blackmail they are exposing us to…they don't want us. The sooner we accept that they don't want us and that we don't belong there, the better off we will be.’” (rt.com 10/16/22)
“Belgrade will not impose sanctions on Russia until the very existence of Serbia is threatened, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday. ‘As long as there is no existential threat to Serbia, to its citizens, we will not [impose sanctions], we will pursue an independent policy which we have defined by decisions of the security council,’ Vucic said in a televised appearance on the TV Prva broadcaster. ‘If we find ourselves in such a situation, if I see and understand that we are faced with an existential threat, then I will address the citizens of Serbia and tell them that we must do so. You are asking me whether this moment has come, I think it has not. I am proud that for 240 days we have been pursuing an independent policy.’
The president added that he ‘is not looking for an excuse to impose sanctions,’ saying that he can ‘find five million reasons’ not to do so. ‘I seek a moral and legally unimpeachable position for the country that I love the most and lead by choice of its citizens,’ Vucic said. The president added that Serbia, against which the West has violated resolutions and the Charter of the United Nations on the Kosovo issue, is preventing the West from accusing Russia of violating international law in the current situation.” (sputniknews.com 10/20/22)
“Belgrade put its military on high alert on Tuesday as the breakaway region of Kosovo began implementing a plan to ban Serbian license plates, the country’s defense minister, Milos Vucevic, announced. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is also the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, has ordered the military ‘to increase the level of combat readiness to be prepared to respond to any task,’ Vucevic said in an interview with the broadcaster Happy TV. ‘Serbia talking about peace and stability doesn’t mean that we’re weak, that we can be harassed and humiliated,’ he pointed out, apparently addressing Kosovo’s leadership.
The Serbian military now has orders to immediately destroy any hostile drone in the country’s airspace, President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Tuesday. The new rules of engagement come after MiG-29 interceptors were sent to fend off UAVs spotted above military bases near the boundary with the disputed province of Kosovo. (rt.com 11/1/22)
“Serbia must decide whether it wants to join the European Union or enter into a partnership with Russia, Germany told Belgrade on Tuesday, two days before six Western Balkan countries are scheduled to discuss closer cooperation in Berlin. ‘The need for a decision is coming to a head in view of geopolitical developments,’ a German government representative said in reference to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Serbia, which was bombed by NATO two decades ago but now seeks to join the European Union, has long struggled to balance historically close ties with Russia against aspirations for economic and political integration with the West. An agreement between Serbia and Russia on enhanced cooperation had been met with surprise and disappointment, and was a poor fit with expectations that EU accession candidates should also adopt EU sanctions against Russia, the representative said.” (reuters.com 11/1/22)
“Dozens of ethnic Serb government employees in the breakaway region of Kosovo have resigned from their positions. They are protesting against the firing of a police chief who refused to enforce Pristina’s orders requiring drivers to change automobile license plates issued by Belgrade or face penalties that will eventually include vehicle confiscation.” (rt.com 11/4/22)
“Serbia has turned down a proposal on Kosovo put forward by France and Germany, the country’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic has revealed to journalists. The plan had called on Belgrade not to oppose the breakaway region’s accession to the UN as a member state, in exchange for the EU’s financial support and a fast-track to membership of the bloc.
In an interview with Serbia’s Novosti media outlet, which was published on Sunday, Dacic said: ‘In the plan of Scholz and Macron, Serbia is offered to accept Kosovo in the United Nations in exchange for a hazy European perspective.’ However, this proposal is unacceptable to Belgrade as it is based on the premise that ‘Kosovo’s independence is already a done deal,’ the diplomat noted. According to the minister, Serbia’s National Security Council voted unanimously to reject the plan suggested by Berlin and Paris.” (rt.com 11/6/22)
“The European Union’s top diplomat held eight hours of fruitless talks Monday with the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo and blamed them for their failure to settle a dispute over vehicle license plates. Amid rising tensions between the Balkans neighbors, the EU’s high representative, Josep Borrell, invited Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to Brussels for emergency talks.
Borrell said after the meeting that both leaders had the responsibility ‘to urgently de-escalate’ but that both parties had shown ‘unconstructive behavior’ and a lack of respect for their international legal obligations. ‘And this goes in particular for Kosovo,’ he said. ‘This sends a very negative political signal. Unfortunately they did not agree to a solution today,’ he said.” (washingtontimes.com 11/21/22)
“An agreement reached in Brussels on Wednesday may cool the tensions between Serbia and its breakaway province of Kosovo, as it appeared that the EU and the US managed to persuade the ethnic Albanian government in Pristina to drop its plan to force changes to Serbian license plates. ‘We have a deal!’ tweeted the EU foreign policy commissioner Josep Borrell, thanking the negotiators from Belgrade and Pristina for agreeing on ‘measures to avoid further escalation.’ According to Borrell, Serbia will stop issuing plates for Kosovo cities, while Kosovo will ‘cease further actions related to re-registration of vehicles.’” (rt.com 11/24/22)
“Under the EU-brokered deal, which was reached in Brussels on Wednesday after several failed attempts, Serbia is expected to stop issuing ‘KM’ license plates for Kosovo cities, while Pristina has vowed to stop persecuting Kosovo Serbs who have Serbian-issued license plates on their vehicles. Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Vucic argued that this agreement is only a ‘small tactical victory, which will lead us to an even more difficult situation and more pressure’ in the future. ‘That’s why you can’t see too much joy in me, because I know that difficult times await us,’ the Serbian leader said. Vucic admitted that he is satisfied that the deal has preserved peace for the people and helped avoid endangering the whole of Serbia, but stressed that Kosovo Serbs are ‘fed up’ with the constant pressure and ‘terror’ from Pristina and that the situation in the region is ‘literally boiling.’” (rt.com 11/24/22)
“The European Union has presented the final version of its proposal for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, urging both sides to embark on ‘serious discussions,’ EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday. ‘The last version of the text was sent yesterday to Belgrade and today to Kosovo. And now, they have to embark on discussions — on serious discussions — because this is a moment in which there is a big opportunity,’ Borrell said upon arrival at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tirana.” (sputniknews.com 12/6/22)
“Several hundred police loyal to the ethnic Albanian authorities in Pristina deployed on Thursday evening in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, the Serb-majority city in the north of the breakaway province of Kosovo. The government in Belgrade has described the move as illegal and part of a train of abuses against the local Serbs.
Between 300-350 officers, including heavily armed special forces ‘in full war gear and with armored vehicles,’ entered Kosovska Mitrovica around 8:30 pm on Thursday and ‘literally occupied the entire city,’ Petar Petkovic, the Serbian government’s commissioner for Kosovo, told reporters at a press conference shortly before midnight.” (rt.com 12/8/22)
“The authorities in Pristina have brought the situation in Kosovo to the brink of war, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Friday. Belgrade has announced it will seek a return of its security forces to the breakaway province, claiming the NATO-led peacekeeping force is failing in its task. Serbia has the right to deploy up to 1,000 of its security personnel in the province under the provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, Brnabic said, because ‘KFOR is not fulfilling its obligations and Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija don’t feel safe.’ Brnabic pointed to multiple incidents this week, including KFOR and the ethnic Albanian police raiding a kindergarten in Leposavic, and said the Kosovo government led by Albin Kurti is violating the Kumanovo and Brussels agreements every day – referring to the 1999 armistice and the 2013 technical deal, respectively.” (rt.com 12/9/22)
“Serbia will request that its forces be deployed to Kosovo amid an Albanian-led crackdown on the province’s Serb population, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday. Vucic added that he expects Kosovo’s NATO backers to reject the request. ‘We will send a request to the KFOR commander to ensure the deployment of members of the army and police of the Republic of Serbia to the territory of Kosovo and Metohija,’ said Vucic, referring to the NATO-led Kosovo Force mission in the province. Under Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council, Serbia has a right to send military and police personnel to Kosovo in certain situations, including in the event that the ‘peaceful and normal life’ of its population there becomes threatened.” (rt.com 12/10/22)
“Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent comments on the 2014-15 Minsk agreements have cast the Ukraine conflict in a new light, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday. Merkel stated that she knew Kiev was using the ceasefire to rearm its troops. The peace deals brokered by Germany and France eight years ago laid out a path for the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics’ (DPR and LPR) peaceful reintegration into Ukraine. However, they were never implemented because the government of Ukraine argued over the interpretation of the agreements.
The former chancellor’s words ‘shed a completely new light’ on the history of the conflict, Vucic said. ‘It cannot change the fact of who attacked whom, but changes a lot in terms of facts and relations inside what has been going on since 2014 … it is a clear sign for me that [they] cannot be trusted. It’s a lesson for us,’ Vucic added.” (rt.com 12/11/22)
“The standoff was nothing less than ‘an attempt to end the Serbian problem in Kosovo,’ Vucic stressed, blaming Pristina for the tensions and accusing a ‘good part of the international community’ of ‘participating’ in the Kosovo authorities' scheme. At the international level, information about the situation in Kosovo is full of ‘direct falsifications, naked lies,’ the president said, adding that ‘on the ground, we have a difficult struggle of a people for survival.’ Vucic, who claimed that Sunday was his ‘most difficult’ day as president, urged Serbs in northern Kosovo to ‘be calm and peaceful and not to fall for provocations.’
‘We are nailed to the wall. For me, this is the hardest day I've had as president of Serbia or head of government.’ Vucic accused the US of siding with Kosovo against Serbia by failing to respect agreements reached with Belgrade. Washington nurtured Kosovo like a ‘child’ for some 20 years, the president said, maintaining that the US is now ‘protecting’ it.” (rt.com 12/11/22)
“Moscow is ‘alarmed’ by the mounting tensions in Kosovo, which are the fault of ‘radical’ ethnic Albanian authorities in the breakaway Serbian province and their Western sponsors, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday. Authorities in Pristina have undertaken a ‘series of provocations’ with the connivance of the US and the EU, using ‘ethnically motivated violence’ to target the remaining Serbs in the province, Zakharova told reporters
Prime minister Albin Kurti is seeking to distract from a failed domestic policy by ‘playing with fire, spinning up Serbophobic hysteria’ and escalating tensions ‘closely approaching an armed conflict,’ said Zakharova. Only the forbearance of local Serbs and the government in Belgrade is preventing things from sliding into open violence, she added.” (rt.com 12/12/22)
“Which brings me back to Serbia. If you think that foreign intelligence operatives from the United States and the United Kingdom are taking a hands off approach to the situation on the the Serbian/Kosovo border, think again. With the war in Ukraine going badly for the United States and NATO, it appears that the West is hoping to create a situation in Serbia that will force Russia to divide its forces.” (sonar21.com 12/12/22)
“Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko suggested that the Brussels agreements on the Kosovo settlement could be a "screen" for arming Pristina, just like the Minsk agreements for Kyiv. ‘Now - bearing in mind the revelations of [ex-German Chancellor Angela] Merkel about the Minsk agreements - we can assume that, most likely, the Brussels agreements were born in order to cover up the military training of Pristina,’ he said in an interview with Izvestia. .
According to the ambassador, an illegitimate Kosovo ‘army’ has been formed in recent years. The Brussels agreements, in the West's view, played the same role as the Minsk agreements in relation to Ukraine, namely, they were a ‘screen’, he added.” (https://t.me/tass_agency/171887 12/13/22)
“The ethnic Albanian government in Kosovo signed a formal application to join the European Union on Wednesday, calling it a ‘new chapter’ for Pristina. The move was dismissed as a public relations stunt by Serbia, which does not recognize the breakaway province. Neither do five of the 27 EU member states.” (rt.com 12/14/22)
“Ethnic Albanian officials loyal to Pristina have taken over the largest Serb municipality in the north of Kosovo. The new municipal council of North Mitrovica was sworn in on Wednesday under heavily armed police guard, to replace the Serb officials who resigned in protest last month. Serbia said the move amounts to ethnic cleansing. As sixteen new members were sworn in, Serbian flags were removed from the council chambers, RT Balkans reported. Several armored vehicles of NATO’s KFOR peacekeeping force patrolled outside the building.” (rt.com 12/14/22)
“The government in Belgrade has officially petitioned the KFOR peacekeeping mission for the return of up to 1,000 police to its breakaway province of Kosovo, citing a provision of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244. The request comes as President Aleksandar Vucic accused the ethnic Albanian government in Pristina of ‘terrorizing’ the remaining ethnic Serbs.
The resolution officially put an end to the NATO attack on Serbia in 1999, allowing the US-led alliance to seize Kosovo but nominally guaranteed Serbia’s sovereignty over the province. Kosovo’s provisional government then declared independence in 2008, but neither Serbia nor the UN have recognized it.” (rt.com 12/15/22)
“NATO’s mission in Kosovo announced on Sunday that it will hold ‘tactical’ military exercises in the coming days. The announcement came amid tensions between Kosovo’s Western-backed government and the province’s Serbian minority. Kosovo Force (KFOR) ‘will conduct a regular military exercise near its base in Novo Selo,’ the mission announced via its Twitter account. T’he exercise aims to train KFOR units to guarantee freedom of movement in a crisis response situation & it will consist [of] a series of tactical simulations & logistic activities.’” (rt.com 12/18/22)
“Moscow is to blame for the recent tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, the breakaway province’s ethnic Albanian prime minister, Albin Kurti, told the Guardian on Tuesday. Belgrade, however, debunked the number of joint exercises with Russia that Kurti cited as evidence for his claim. ‘I think that the worry of our western partners and friends is the links of Belgrade with Moscow,’ Kurti told the outlet, adding, ‘now that Russia got severely wounded in Ukraine... they have interest in spillover. They have interest in outsourcing their war-mongering drive to the Balkans where they have a client who’s in Belgrade,’ the official added.” (rt.com 12/20/22)
“Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic called on the International NATO mission in Kosovo and Metohija (KFOR) to stop the violence and terror against Serbs in the region. ‘I call on the KFOR to stop the violence and terror against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and urgently react to the dangerous threats made by [Prime Minister of the partially recognized Kosovo] Albin Kurti, who has no respect either for human rights, or existing European values,’ Vucevic said in a written statement published Tuesday.
‘Serbia will not allow a new Operation Storm,’ the Minister said, referring to the operation that resulted in Serbs being expelled from Croatia, ‘or a new pogrom like in March 2004, because Serbia is a part of a civilized world, a driver of peace and stability.’” (tass.com 12/20/22)
“Serbian armed forces were put on a high combat alert upon an order from Commander-in-Chief and President Aleksandar Vucic, Defense Minister Milos Vucevic told the Tanjug news agency. ‘The president of Serbia in the capacity of the supreme commander-in-chief has ordered to put the Serbian Army on high combat alert…," the minister said.’ It ups us to the highest level of actions, which the Serbian Army must follow protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia and its citizens.” (tass.com 12/27/22)
“The decision by Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian government to block the Serbian Orthodox patriarch from entering the breakaway province is as shameful as the silence of Pristina’s Western backers, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday. ‘This is a great shame, not for us, but for them,” Vucic said in a televised speech. “But it’s important for us to see how decision-makers, mainly in the West, truly feel about our people and our country.’” (rt.com 12/27/22)
“The established mythos of the Bosnian War is that Serb separatists, encouraged and directed by Slobodan Milošević and his acolytes in Belgrade, sought to forcibly seize Croat and Bosniak territory in service of creating an irredentist “Greater Serbia.” Every step of the way, they purged indigenous Muslims in a concerted, deliberate genocide, while refusing to engage in constructive peace talks.
However, a vast trove of intelligence cables sent by Canadian peacekeeping troops in Bosnia to Ottawa’s National Defence Headquarters, first published by Canada Declassified at the start of 2022, exposes this narrative as cynical farce.
The peacekeepers’ increasingly bleak analysis of the reality on the ground provides a candid perspective of the war’s history that has been largely concealed from the public. It is a story of CIA black ops, literally explosive provocations, illegal weapon shipments, imported jihadist fighters, potential false flags, and stage-managed atrocities.” (thegrayzone.com 12/30/22)
“Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Sunday that the republic intends to increase the presence of NATO military personnel in its territory for the sake of strengthening peace and security in Western Balkans. Kurti also noted that Kosovo was currently increasing defense spending and the number of its soldiers and reservists. ‘We are following with great concern the evolution of the situation in and around Kosovo. We see that the Kosovar authorities are taking a course for escalation, while it is obvious to us that they are relying on overt and covert support from their curators, primarily from the European Union and Washington,’ Grushko said.” (sputniknews.com 1/2/23)
“The number of nations that have signaled their readiness to revoke recognition of Kosovo has increased to ten, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Tuesday. Belgrade is intensifying its de-recognition campaign in response to what it sees as Kosovo’s violation of agreements reached with Serbia, Dacic told Serbia’s Vecernje Novosti media outlet. The minister refused to disclose the names of the countries that made the decision, arguing that the nations involved should be protected from pressure that could be exerted by Kosovo’s powerful backers.” (rt.com 1/3/23)
“‘To date, 106 countries do not recognize Kosovo's independence; a total of 84 countries recognize Kosovo's independence; three countries do not fully recognize it,’ Vucic said at Wednesday's annual final press conference. - ‘We have nine countries that have withdrawn recognition: Somalia, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Eswatini, Libya, Guinea, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, and the Maldives. We have, and we expect a tenth as well,’ Vucic added.” (scooptrade.com 1/5/23)
“Germany is looking for new problems, and long-term ones, said State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin in his Telegram channel. ‘Today, the German government decided to shift the problems that their predecessors created onto our country. To this end, they plan to seize Russian assets to restore Ukraine. As soon as such a decision is made, we have the right to take similar actions with respect to the assets of Germany and other states,’ he emphasized. Volodin also added that the countries that recognized the independence of Kosovo ‘have no other choice but to agree with the right’ of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to self-determination. ‘This will initiate a process when all states will begin to ignore international law, take whatever they see fit at their own discretion,’ he concluded. (tass.com 1/5/23)
“Ethnic Serbs blocked a major road in the south of Kosovo on Friday, in protest over a drive-by shooting of two youths on Christmas Eve. An 11-year-old boy and his 21-year-old cousin were shot not far from Strpce from a passing car, identified as belonging to an ethnic Albanian, as they walked with oak branches traditionally used to celebrate the holiday in the Orthodox Christian tradition. ‘Someone wanted to give us a bloody Christmas,” tweeted Petar Petkovic, the Serbian government’s commissioner for Kosovo. He described the shooting as “an attempted murder.’” (rt.com 1/6/23)
“NATO has rejected Belgrade’s request for the deployment of Serbian troops to Kosovo amid rising tensions in the breakaway region, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has said. In a ‘carefully composed letter’ the command of the US-led military bloc's contingent in Kosovo (KFOR) ‘replied that they believe that there is no need for the return of the Serbian Army to the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, while referring to Resolution 1244’ of the UN Security Council, Vucic told Pink TV on Sunday. KFOR refrained from pointing out a specific clause in the resolution that would justify its decision, ‘since they have no right to refuse that request,” the president insisted.’” (rt.com 1/8/23)
“Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska (one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entities), will hand over Republika Srpska’s highest award to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their personal meeting in Moscow, a Russian diplomat said. ‘We are grateful for this decision by President Dodik and the Republika Srpska government, and we see it as a yet another proof of the strategic nature of our fraternal relations in all spheres, such as economy and spiritual life. I think we have good prospects,’ Russian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Kalabukhov said in a comment to the RTRS television channel. (tass.com 1/11/23)
“The prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, is trying to play the victim and paint himself as a ‘new Zelensky,’ Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday after meeting with US Department of State Counselor Derek Chollet. ‘It’s a difficult situation for us, all the great powers have recognized Kosovo’s independence, don't expect anything nice and sugar-coated. It’s not from yesterday, there’s nothing to be surprised about,’ Vucic admitted.
The president reaffirmed Belgrade’s stance that it sees Kosovo as a breakaway region and considers it an integral part of Serbia. Kosovo received partial international recognition, although its independence claim has been backed only by the US and most of its allies. Vucic noted that Kurti has been relentlessly trying to portray himself as a victim of Serbia’s purported aggression.” (rt.com 1/14/23)
Croatian President “Milanovic criticised Western countries for using double standards in international politics, saying Russia would invoke what he called the international community's ‘annexation of Kosovo’ as an excuse for taking parts of Ukraine. Milanovic was referring to Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008 following a 1998-1999 war in which NATO countries bombed rump-Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, to protect Albanian-majority Kosovo. ‘We recognised Kosovo against the will of a state (Serbia) to which Kosovo belonged,’ he said, cautioning that he was not questioning Kosovo's independence but the concept of Western double standards.” (reuters.com 1/30/23)
“The moment is approaching when Serbia will have no choice but to give in to Western demands to sanction its long time friend Russia, its President Aleksandar Vucic has warned. In an interview with Prva broadcaster on Friday, Vucic said he expects ‘a major escalation’ in the conflict in Ukraine over the next six months. The fighting to date will feel like ‘almost nothing, compared to what’s coming,’ he warned. This situation ‘will affect our country as the pressure on Belgrade, in terms of its relations with Russia, will become two or three times tougher – despite already being very strong now,’ the president said.” (rt.com 2/11/23)
“The European Union on Monday published the text of the so-called Franco-German proposal for a ‘path to normalization’ of relations between Serbia and its breakaway province of Kosovo. While implying that Belgrade and Pristina agreed to the plan, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said another meeting in March will discuss its implementation.
‘President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Albin Kurti have today agreed that no further discussions are needed on the EU Proposal,’ Borrell tweeted after the meeting in Brussels, also attended by the EU envoy to the Balkans Miroslav Lajcak. ‘We have made some progress today, but more work is needed.’
Kurti told reporters that the agreement was not signed because Vucic refused to do so, even though he ‘agreed to’ the EU proposal. ‘I offered to sign it formally, but Serbia was not ready,’ he said.” (rt.com 2/28/23)
“Serbia has not agreed to the EU’s ‘normalization’ proposal on its relations with the breakaway province of Kosovo, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday while appearing on national TV. He added that Belgrade was facing threats from Brussels, but still refused to discuss the recognition of Kosovo and its accession to the UN.” (rt.com 2/28/23)
“The European Union expects former wartime foes Kosovo and Serbia to reach a final deal next week on normalising relations after both endorsed a peace plan, the bloc's envoy said on Thursday. The nations' leaders are due to meet on March 18 in North Macedonia to discuss implementation of an 11-point EU plan after agreeing last month that its contents needed no further talks.” (usnews.com 3/9/23)
“Belgrade and Pristina have agreed on a range of issues during their talks held in the North Macedonian city of Ohrid, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters on Saturday. ‘The few provisions that we had agreed today will lay the framework for the implementation plan for both sides, for Belgrade and Pristina. Most importantly, we have agreed that while we are on this serious and difficult path, the European Council will assess who did what in order to put into practice provisions from the implementation plan. Nothing is over today, it is just the beginning,’ Vucic said.” (tass.com 3/19/23)
“In a carefully worded statement to the public on Friday, US ambassador in Belgrade Christopher Hill commented on the 78-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia by calling on the Serbs to build a ‘better future’ together with Washington. ‘I offer my personal condolences to the families of those who lost their lives during the wars of the 1990s, including as a result of the NATO air campaign,’ Hill said in a series of tweets.
‘I know that the Serbian people will never forget that terrible time, nor should they,” he added. “The Serbian people will never set aside their grief, but I believe they are strong enough to set aside their grievances.’” (rt.com 3/24/23)
“Kosovo Liberation Army leader Hashim Thaci pleaded not guilty on Monday before the EU-funded special tribunal in The Hague. Thaci and three other KLA leaders were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for their actions during the 1998-99 insurgency against Serbia, which NATO eventually launched an air war to support.
Prosecutors of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers Court charged Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and former KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi with murder, torture, forced disappearances, persecution and cruel treatment of ethnic Albanians, Roma and Serbs, for the purpose of gaining control over the entire province. ‘Why did they do it? The evidence will show that it was to gain power,” said prosecutor Alex Whiting, adding that the KLA had a ‘clear and explicit policy to target collaborators and perceived traitors, including political opponents.’” (rt.com 4/3/23)
“Bosnia and Herzegovina is not even considering joining NATO, Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said during a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade Friday. ‘We’ve said that we follow Serbia’s position on this issue: neutrality and non-accession to any military bloc is our policy. […] Cooperation with NATO is possible, but we have suspended that until we define our position. Our membership in NATO is not even being considered,’ Dodik said.
Dodik underscored that Republika Srpska must ‘avoid’ the games of ‘various diplomats and politicians,’ whose only intention is to fulfill the wishes of ‘Islamic Sarajevo’ and worsen the situation for Republika Srpska. The leader of the Bosnian Serbs noted that the same thing is happening with Bosnia’s NATO membership, which is why Republika Srpska adheres to neutrality.
Earlier, Dodik said that Republika Srpska will develop cooperation with Russia, China and the US, and will continue on its path to joining the EU, while not joining NATO. This position, combined with his blocking of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to NATO, is a thorn in the side of the West. Previously, the US and the UK imposed sanctions against Dodik.” (tass.com 4/14/23)
“The West keeps playing games with Serbia by twisting any and all agreements to serve its own interests, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Monday as he stated that Belgrade continues to oppose the bid by the breakaway region of Kosovo to join the Council of Europe.
‘We will vote against its membership in the Council of Europe. Stop lying and deceiving us,’ Vucic said at a news conference. ‘That's all I have to say to you, to those in Europe and around the world who think they have the right to lie and deceive us and interpret things as they see fit, not as they are written or agreed on.’ (tass.com 4/24/23)
“Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has promised the Serbs that the country will not join NATO as long as he remains the head of state. ‘Serbia today is one of the few countries with its own policies. It’s independent and free-thinking,’ Vucic said while addressing a crowd of local residents in Sokobanja on Friday. ‘As long as I am president, and this will [last] another four years, and as the commander-in-chief, I guarantee you that Serbia will not join NATO or any other military bloc. Serbia will painstakingly maintain its military neutrality and defend its freedom on its own. This is our choice,’ Vucic concluded.” (tass.com 4/28/23)
“Vucic said on Friday that his intelligence contacts tipped him off about the presence of foreign-sponsored revolutionaries at so-called anti-violence rallies in Belgrade. The West, he declared, has been causing problems’ for Serbia ever since Belgrade refused to hand them Kosovo on a platter.’
Thousands of protesters and a group of opposition politicians marched in Belgrade on Friday, demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic and intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin. Successive demonstrations have been held in the Serbian capital since 17 people – including eight children – were killed in a pair of back-to-back mass shootings earlier this month. According to RT Balkan, some of the demonstrators on Friday demanded that Vucic also step down.
‘Today I have received information from our sister services from the East telling us ‘these are attempts at color revolutions’, Vucic said at a rally. ‘I told them I don’t know what they’re attempting, I only know that these are disgusting attempts to abuse the tragic deaths of some children.’” (rt.com 5/19/23)
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused the ethnic Albanian government in Pristina of trying to provoke a war on Wednesday, after the breakaway province closed the border to all Serbian vehicles and arrested several prominent Serbs.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti ordered the closure of the border after three Kosovo police officers were detained by Serbian security forces on Tuesday morning. He has said that the blockade will remain in effect until the three men are released.” (rt.com 6/14/23)
“Tensions in the breakaway province of Kosovo are at their worst in almost a quarter of a century, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has warned. He accused the West of condoning the latest crackdown on Serbs, unleashed by ethnic Albanians in the self-proclaimed republic.
Speaking on Sunday, Vucic said: ‘A hybrid war is being waged against Serbia, and Western countries allow the shooting and mistreatment of Serbs.’ The official went on to describe the situation in the region as the ‘most complex in the last 24 years,’ with ethnic Serbs ‘under severe attack.’” (rt.com 6/18/23)
“The West is toying with international law in an attempt to create alternative ways to resolve the Kosovo problem, and this may lead the region down a path to calamity, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing Wednesday.
The diplomat underscored that the US and the EU continue to turn a blind eye towards Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s subversive actions and deliberately bring the settlement to a deadlock in order to ‘force the Serbs to surrender their vital interests.’” (tass.com 6/21/23)
“Western countries are escalating the situation in Kosovo and Metohija in order to put increased pressure on Serbia’s political leadership, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.
‘Western powers are methodically and repeatedly provoking escalation of the situation in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (Republic of Serbia) in order to put increased pressure on the political leadership in Belgrade, to force it to abandon its fundamental national interests, [and] to sacrifice friendly relations with brotherly Russia and other traditional partners,’ Matviyenko said, according to a statement published on the official website of the Federation Council on Friday.” (tass.com 6/23/23)
“Foreign intelligence services likely played a role in the failed Wagner PMC coup attempt on Saturday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has claimed. In his address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the mutineers as traitors whose actions could play into the hands of Moscow’s adversaries.
‘We didn’t support it in Turkey or Russia, we wouldn’t support it in America, either,’ the official explained, adding that governments should only be ‘changed in elections by the will of the citizens.’ The Serbian head of state went on to say: ‘I don't want to say who was involved from the outside, but have no doubts.’” (rt.com 6/25/23)
“Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, is preparing to launch an attack against the province’s Serb minority to coincide with a renewed counteroffensive by Kiev’s forces in Ukraine, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned on Sunday.
‘Kurti just wants to be the new Zelensky,’ Vucic told reporters. “When the offensive of Ukraine starts, then you will see an additional offensive of Kurti in the Republic of Kosovo. I ask the people of the Republic of Kosovo to be careful, to just take shelter for a while. I am afraid that this terror will become even fiercer.’” (rt.com 7/2/23)
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that his consultations with Prime Minister of unrecognized Kosovo Albin Kurti held in Brussels on Thursday were unsuccessful.
‘We had talks, and I think they were unsuccessful in terms of finding a direct way to normalize relations. We all have our proposals. In the end, we accepted the EU’s compromise proposal, which Kurti was not ready to accept, and the meeting ended,’ the Serbian leader told reporters.
The Serbian leader pointed out that during the negotiations ‘there were not many pleasant, but mostly unpleasant moments,’ and it became clear that ‘Kurti simply avoided the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, and that is the whole point.’” (tass.com 9/14/23)
“Ethnic Serb gunmen in armoured vehicles stormed a village in north Kosovo on Sunday, battling police and barricading themselves in a monastery in a resurgence of violence in the restive north that killed four people. The siege centred on a Serbian Orthodox monastery near the village of Banjska in the Serb-majority region where monks and pilgrims hid inside a temple as a shootout raged. One police officer and three of the attackers died, according to authorities in Kosovo and Serbia.” (reuters.com 9/24/23)
“The sad story of the non-fulfillment of the Minsk agreements on the Donbass republics is repeating itself with Serbia and Kosovo, Lavrov said.
‘The whole world sees how the sad history of the Minsk agreements on Ukraine, which envisioned a special status for the Donbass republics and which Kiev openly sabotaged with Western support, is repeating itself in the Balkans. And now the European Union does not want to force its Kosovo proteges to implement the 2013 agreements between Belgrade and Pristina on the creation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities of Kosovo, which has special rights to its language and traditions,’ he stated.
‘NATO providing arms and assistance to the Albanians of Kosovo in building an army of their own is a gross violation of the fundamental resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council,’ Lavrov remarked.” (sputnikglobe.com 9/26/23)
“Analysts have expressed concerns that relations between Serbia and Kosovo — tense at the best of times — have become increasingly hostile in recent months. Violence erupted in northern Kosovo in September, and Belgrade responded with a military buildup on its border with its neighbor.
Now there are concerns that the volatility in this southeastern region of Europe could tip into an armed conflict while the world is distracted by the war in Ukraine. Given the current political and security context, analysts say an outbreak of violence in northern Kosovo ‘should raise alarm bells.’” (cnbc.com 10/5/23)
“In Pristina, there is growing doubt about the United States and other Western countries’ commitment to Kosovo’s independence and much concern about the extent to which Washington accommodates (or, depending on one’s perspective, appeases) President Aleksandar Vučić’s government under the banner of promoting stability in the Western Balkans. Some voices in Pristina express concerns about the United States eventually going as far as revoking its recognition of Kosovo’s independence as part of a strategy aimed at improving Washington-Belgrade relations.
The United States and NATO’s botched 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan unsettled many Kosovars. The decision to pull U.S. forces out of Afghanistan following a twenty-year occupation, which left Washington’s Afghan partners at the Taliban’s mercy, prompted some in Kosovo to question whether the United States would leave the Kosovars to a similar fate.” (nationalinterest.org 12/2/23)
“Appeals judges at a special Kosovo court upheld Thursday the convictions of a former commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army for arbitrarily detaining and torturing prisoners and murdering one of them during Kosovo’s war for independence, but reduced his sentence by four years.
The commander, Salih Mustafa, was convicted a year ago and sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment for the crimes committed at a KLA compound in Zllash, Kosovo, in April 1999. He was acquitted of one charge of mistreating detainees who were perceived as supporters of Serbia.” (apnews.com 12/16/23)
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has declared victory over a pro-EU opposition coalition in Sunday’s parliamentary election in the Balkan country, after exit polls projected that his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) would win over half of the seats.
The SNS won some 46% of the vote, according to polls by CeSID and Ipsos, with rival Serbia Against Violence (SPN) claiming less than 28%. A total of 18 parties ran for the 250-strong national legislature, of which five are projected to surpass the 3% threshold required to enter parliament.” (rt.com 12/18/23)
“Pro-Western demonstrators have attempted to break into government buildings in Belgrade in what Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called an attempted ‘color revolution.’ Vucic claims he was tipped off about the plot beforehand.
Thousands of opposition protesters gathered outside the Belgrade City Assembly on Sunday to protest the victory of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) over the pro-EU Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition in parliamentary elections last week. The protest turned violent with a group of demonstrators attempting to batter down the doors of the building, until they were dispersed by police.” (rt.com 12/24/23)
“Two United States Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons will conduct bilateral air-to-ground training with joint terminal attack controllers (JTAC) from the United States Army Special Forces (SOF) and Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) in the Tuzla and Brcko region on the afternoon of January 8.
This bilateral training is an example of advanced military-to-military cooperation that contributes to peace and security in the Western Balkans as well as demonstrates the United States’ commitment to ensuring the territorial integrity of BiH in the face of anti-Dayton and secessionist activity. The United States has underscored that the BiH Constitution provides no right of secession, and it will act if anyone tries to change this basic element of Dayton.” (ba.usembassy.gov 1/8/24)
“The Western countries are building up their military potential and pursuing a policy of total militarization in an attempt to defeat Russia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said.
‘What is happening now is madness. They all thought that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would be easily defeated. Now they see that this is not so,’ Vucic said. ‘The current trend is toward total militarization and a five-fold build-up in all respects," he told the media while visiting the Belgrade Military Technical Institute and inspecting armaments on display.
The Serbian leader together with Defense Minister Milos Vucevic inspected new weapons of the Serbian Armed Forces. He noted the importance of increasing the production of UAVs and other weapons.
Earlier, Vucic stressed that under the current circumstances it should not be ruled out the West might send its soldiers to Ukraine and there was a risk of the conflict’s escalation.” (tass.com 3/9/24)
“‘What the West did was completely unacceptable. Without any resolution of the UN Security Council, they directly began a military operation, a war in fact, in the center of Europe, and with the bombing of the capital of [Yugoslavia], Belgrade,’ Putin told the Rossiya 1 channel.
NATO launched what it called Operation Allied Force on March 24, 1999, and bombed the country for 78 days on behalf of ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo. That province was then placed under a UN provisional government, while Security Council Resolution 1244 guaranteed Serbian sovereignty. In 2008, the US-backed Kosovo provisional government declared independence. Belgrade has never recognized this move.” (rt.com 3/24/24)
“Vucic, noting that today they granted Pristina the status of an associate member in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, ‘thanked’ the Alliance, stating that this was enough to ensure that Serbia never joined that alliance.
‘Thank you, just so we know that we will never join NATO, that we will preserve and protect our military neutrality. And when you accept them into the Council of Europe, we will have an answer to that as well. That's enough about your lies, about sanctions against Pristina and everything else; there's nothing you haven't rewarded them with, nothing you haven't punished Serbia with,’ the President said.” (Kosovo-online.com 3/24/24)
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