Escalating tensions in northern Kosovo: is the agreement between Serbia and Kosovo at risk?

The situation in Kosovo escalated on May 26, when Kosovo special operations units dispersed a group of Serbs, which was trying to prevent the Albanian mayors from entering the administration buildings. Let me remind that the month before the Serbian minority boycotted local elections in four northern municipalities, populated mainly by Serbs. Belgrade supported this boycott, and the turnout did not exceed 5%. As a result, Albanian candidates won in all four cities.

Meanwhile, at the end of May, the confrontation between Kosovo Serbs and the police escalated into bloody clashes between protesters and NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. As a result, 30 NATO peacekeepers and 50 Serbs received injuries (including gunshots). NATO responded by sending an additional 700 troops to reinforce the 4,000-strong KFOR contingent. On June 1, at a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers in Oslo, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO was ready to deploy even more troops to Kosovo.

The United States and leading European countries promptly responded to the Kosovo events. Moreover, perhaps for the first time in recent years, the West placed the main responsibility for the escalation of tension on Pristina. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken put forward specific requirements: «Prime Minister Kurti and his government should ensure that elected mayors carry out their transitional duties from alternate locations outside municipal buildings, and withdraw police forces from the vicinity. The State Secretary further emphasized the responsibility of President Vucic and the Government of Serbia in this regard».

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in a statement to the British daily “Guardian”, criticized Antony Blinken, saying that his statement regarding the events in the north of Kosovo was naive, unfair, and wrong.

I asked Adelina Hasani, researcher at the Kosovar Center for Security Studies about the prospects and challenges of peaceful settlement between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as possible attempts of Russia to interfere in the negotiation process.

• On the current state of the negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo.
• Is there any space for compromises on the issue of the Association of Serb Municipalities?
• On Russia’s ability to influence stability in the northern municipalities of Kosovo.
• Does the government effectively counter the external informational influences on society?
• How do you assess the possibility of infiltration by mercenaries of the PMC Wagner in the events in the north of Kosovo?