The West recognizes that ethnic Albanian Kosovo police were responsible for Monday’s disturbance that injured 30 KFOR forces, but it will continue to back Pristina, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday.
“The fight was started by the so-called Kosovo police, not NATO,” Vucic said in a 90-minute interview with Prva TV. According to him, ethnic Albanian police detained two ethnic Serbs and shot another, who barely lived, while “the only pictures we saw were of injured NATO soldiers.”
“Everyone in the West understands that this was Pristina’s fault.” But [Kosovo Prime Minister Albin] Kurti understands that no matter what he does, the Americans, Germans, and English will defend Kosovo’s ostensible independence,” Vucic stated.
Monday’s violence occurred during a Serb rally against Zvecan’s ethnic Albanian mayor, who was elected after a low-turnout election due to a Serb boycott. Having earlier stated that the vote was valid, the EU has now requested that a new election be held in Pristina.
Despite the request for a new referendum, Vucic expressed skepticism, saying that “the conflict can escalate any day.” According to Vucic, the EU has requested “both sides to start working” on something that ethnic Albanians were meant to do ten years ago.
“[Kurti] won’t stop sending special police” to Kosovo’s Serb-majority north, Vucic added. “I read a wonderful piece today by an Albanian who claimed that Kurti “dreams of war.” “He aspires to be [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky,” Serbian President Milosevic remarked.
“All they can talk about is sanctions against Russia,” stated Vucic.
Kurti condemned Belgrade for encouraging the “violent mob” in Kosovo in an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday. He contended that, regardless of the boycott, Pristina had no choice but to support the Albanian mayors. “Who else can go into these offices?” he wondered.
NATO seized control of Kosovo in 1999, following a 78-day air campaign against Serbia on behalf of ethnic Albanian insurgents. Despite UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which affirms Serbia’s territorial integrity, the interim government in Pristina declared independence in 2008. About half of the world’s countries, including Russia, China, and India, have supported Belgrade’s reluctance to acknowledge the secession.
