Pre-Trip Information

Europe: Kosovo

Europe: Serbia

NATO to send hundreds more peacekeepers to Kosovo to help quell violent protests

Violent protests rocked Kosovo in the last week of May 2023.  At issue was the fact that in April 2023, ethnic Serbs in Kosovo boycotted the local elections in northern Kosovo where they (ethnic Serbs) are the majority population. The result was that a predominantly ethnic Albanian delegation was elected to power, taking charge of municipal offices once held by ethnic Serbs.  Riot police accompanying the newly-elected Albanian mayors became embroiled in violent clashes with Serbs who tried to prevent them from taking control over the municipal  offices.

The fracas exploded when K-For NATO forces attempted to quell the violence and, instead, were attack by enraged Serbs.  Reports indicated that more than 30 NATO peacekeepers — Hungarians and Italians —  were among those injured in the incident, leading to international condemnation.  As well,  52 Serbs  were injured, also leading  to calls for restraint.

The ethnic divisions have only amplified the geopolitical dimension as Kosovo is home to a mostly ethnic Albanian population, with pockets of ethnic Serbs living in certain areas, including the restive region of northern Kosovo, where this flare of violence erupted.  Accordingly, the hostilities between Pristina and Belgrade have been reinvigorated.

The dissension  surrounding the local elections has highlighted the ongoing discord between Kosovo and Serbia.  At the heart of the matter was Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, which Serbia — as the successor state of the former Yugoslavia — has refused to recognize.  To date, Serbia has retained its claim on Kosovo even though it no longer has any official control over the country.   Still, the situation was unlikely to be helped by Serbia’s decision  to place its military on the highest state of alert and to deploy troops to the border with Kosovo.

Given the fact that Kosovo was now a flashpoint on the global landscape, NATO announced that it would send 700 more troops to boost its 4,000-strong K-For mission in Kosovo.   With neither side backing down, NATO then made an additional announcement that it would send even more peacekeepers on top of the 700 already set to be deployed.

As indicated above, the roots of the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia go back to 1998 when ethnic Albanians revolted against rule by Serbia; in response, Serbian authorities in Belgrade carried out a harsh and brutalizing crackdown against the separatists.  With more than 13,000 people dying as a result, NATO carried out a military intervention in 1999, which compelled Serbia to pull back from the territory.  A K-For peacekeeping mission was then established in Kosovo, and then in 2008, Kosovo declared its independence.

It should be noted that while more than 100 countries, including the United States (U.S.) and most European Union (EU) countries, have recognized Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, Serbia has not.  Meanwhile, Russia and China have sided with Serbia and criticized Western countries for supporting Kosovo’s independence and sovereignty.

In the aftermath of this flare of violence, China reiterated its support for Serbia as it ““safeguards its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” As to Russia?  Russia has long condemned the West for recognizing Kosovo’s claim of self-determination, but now Russian President Vladimir Putin was citing NATO ’s bombardment of Serbia in 1999 to justify his invasion and annexation of parts of Ukraine.

With the Russian war on Ukraine raging on, the U.S. and the EU have begun to forge an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, aimed at normalizing relations.  The reality was that neither Kosovo nor Serbia would be positioned to join the EU unless they could resolve their differences.

In the immediate future, the EU has called for riot police in Kosovo to suspend its operations at municipal offices in northern Kosovo, and also for violent protesters to “stand down.” The EU also warned of “resolute measures” it would implement as it cautioned that the “failure to de-escalate the tensions will lead to negative consequences.”   As well, French President Emmanuel Macron and  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for fresh elections in the northern Kosovo.

Whether or not Pristina and Belgrade would heed the calls was yet to be determined.  The fact of the matter was that both countries were led by nationalists — Albin Kurti in Kosovo and Aleksandar Vucic in Serbia — neither of whom has demonstrated an appetite for a resolution.