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CNN analysis: Why the Serbs attacked NATO in Kosovo, what is expected to happen and how Vucic is benefiting

2023-05-30 21:23:00Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
CNN analysis: Why the Serbs attacked NATO in Kosovo, what is expected to happen
Images from yesterday's clashes in the north of Kosovo

Christian Edwards - CNN

Dozens of NATO peacekeepers were injured after being attacked by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo during protests against the installation of Albanian mayors.

Violence erupted after Serbian demonstrators tried to block newly elected mayors from taking office in the northern town of Zvecan on Monday, following disputed elections in April. While this kind of violence against peacekeepers is rare, tensions have risen in the region in recent months, fueled by deep historical divisions. Here's what you need to know.

What is the background of the events?

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, following the 1998-99 war in which Kosovo Albanians tried to secede from what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, made up of present-day Serbia and Montenegro. NATO entered the war to protect the Albanian majority of Kosovo. Serbia sees Kosovo as a separate part and does not recognize its independence. Kosovo Serbs see themselves as part of Serbia and see Belgrade as their capital, instead of Pristina.

The majority of Kosovo Serbs – less than 1/10 of the total population – live in the northern regions and have increasingly sought autonomy from the ethnic Albanian majority.

The 2013 EU-brokered Brussels Agreement attempted to normalize relations between the two countries. Under this agreement, Serbia can create autonomous municipalities in the northern region, but these will have to operate under the Kosovar legal system, with the Kosovar police remaining the only police force. More than a decade later, these municipalities have not been established, leaving disputes over the degree of autonomy for Kosovo Serbs to fester.

Even seemingly small details can cause big explosions. For years, Kosovo has wanted Serbs to change their license plates from Serbian to Pristina. Last year, the Kosovo government announced a 2-month period in which the license plates had to be changed, but postponed the date after protests.

Ethnic Serb mayors in northern municipalities, along with local judges and around 600 police officers, resigned in November in protest against the license plate changes.

What caused the new violence?

In March, the two countries signed a new agreement in Ohrid, North Macedonia, again aiming to normalize relations. But this was followed by controversial local elections in 4 municipalities of northern Kosovo.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called on ethnic Serbs in the region to boycott the elections, saying they must no longer tolerate a foreign "invasion".

Lista Serbe, the main political party in the region, called on the Serb community not to vote in the election and for candidates not to run - leaving only ethnic Albanian candidates to run.

Fearing potential violence, the Central Election Commission of Kosovo changed plans to place voting booths in local schools and instead set up mobile centers patrolled by NATO peacekeepers.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that there had been a "threatening campaign orchestrated by Belgrade and executed through intimidation, pressure and blackmail by criminal groups". After the polls closed, election officials said only about 1,567 people had voted in the 4 municipalities – a turnout of 3.5%, according to local media.

The small turnout was a sign of the boycott's success in these Serb-majority regions. The municipality of Zveçan has about 16,800 inhabitants. Of these, more than 16,000 are ethnic Serbs with only about 500 ethnic Albanians.

The newly elected Albanian mayor in Zveçan won by almost 100 votes, prompting calls that his authority is illegitimate.

What happened on Monday?

Ethnic Serb protesters threw Molotov cocktails at NATO (KFOR) troops and used batons to hit their shields as peacekeepers defended the municipal office in Zveçan. KFOR said 30 of its peacekeepers, mostly from its Italian and Hungarian contingents, were wounded.

The soldiers suffered "bruises and burns from improvised explosive devices", while 3 soldiers were "injured from the use of firearms", according to KFOR.

The peacekeeping mission said it had increased its presence in northern Kosovo after newly elected ethnic Albanian mayors took office in Kosovo's Serb-majority areas. Its aim is to "reduce the risk of escalation", KFOR said, but the troops "were then attacked by an increasingly aggressive crowd".

Kurti condemned the "savage attacks" against the peacekeepers. "In a democracy there is no place for fascist violence," he tweeted on Monday.

In a statement, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabiç said that the situation in the north of Kosovo "has never been more difficult".

What was the reaction?

European leaders were quick to condemn the violence. Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said he had been in contact with Kurti and Vucic and urged "both sides to urgently take measures to de-escalate tensions immediately and unconditionally."

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday in Brussels, Borrell said that the EU "condemns in the strongest terms the violence in northern Kosovo seen in recent days".

The Foreign Ministry of France issued a statement claiming that "it is more essential than ever that Pristina and Belgrade show responsibility by returning to the negotiating table with a position of compromise in the service of peace and prosperity of Serbian and Kosovar citizens."

As European leaders try to strike a careful balance between the two countries, other countries have come to Serbia's defense.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said Tuesday: "We support Serbia's efforts to protect sovereignty and territorial integrity" and called on Pristina to establish the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities.

What is expected to happen next?

NATO is sending additional forces to Kosovo after Monday's clashes, according to a statement on Tuesday. The violence in Kosovo comes at a politically uncertain moment in Belgrade. Serbia was shocked earlier this month after two mass shootings killed dozens of people, mostly children.

But what began as a candlelight vigil for the slain erupted into protests against Vucic's government and the "culture of violence" it has dominated.

"I have never seen (Vucic) so nervous," said Bosko Jaksic, a foreign policy commentator in Belgrade, adding: "His crisis management is not working."

However, the crisis in Kosovo may provide some welcome relief for Vucic, who has often used Serbian nationalism as a rallying cry for his supporters.

As the streets of Belgrade have recently been flooded by those protesting Serbia's "culture of violence", nationalist demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday to protest outside the French and German embassies, while Vucic's supporters turned their anger on European promoters. of Kosovo's independence.

In Tuesday's comments, Vucic raised fears that violence in Kosovo could pose a threat to ethnic Serbs in the region, saying Serbia has "concern for the survival and safety of Serbs in Kosovo."

"Kosovo is helping him," said Jaksic. "He is building his patriotic stature in Kosovo. He is a great defender of the Serbian cause. He is the savior of the Serbian people... All that rhetoric that we have heard several times before is being used again. And there are many people who are believing it."


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