After noticing what it described as a “unprecedented” Serbian military build-up, the United States asked Belgrade to withdraw its forces from the Kosovo border on Friday.
US warns Serbian military: After violent confrontations broke out at a monastery in northern Kosovo last week, Serbia stationed advanced tanks and artillery on the border, the White House warned.
A Kosovo police officer and three Serb gunmen were murdered in the fighting, which was one of the worst to hit the former Serbian region in years.
According to John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, “we are keeping an eye on a sizable Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo.”
“That includes an unprecedented staging of mechanised infantry, tanks, and sophisticated Serbian artillery. This is a very unstable development, in our opinion.
“We are requesting Serbia to withdraw those forces from the border,” he continued.
The build-up took place in the previous week, but Kirby stated its goal was not yet evident.
In order to urge “immediate deescalation and a return to dialogue,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had called Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the statement continued.
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, also met with Albin Kurti, the prime minister of Kosovo, and “expressed concern about Serbian military mobilisations,” according a readout of the conversation.
“High-Level Talks and Tensions: Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue and Military Updates”
The two “discussed the EU-facilitated Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which Mr. Sullivan underscored was the only long-term solution to ensuring stability throughout Kosovo,” according to the readout.
While rejecting reports that his country’s soldiers were on alert, Serbian leader Vucic did not specifically deny that there had been a recent build-up.
Because I did not sign it and it is inaccurate, Vucic told reporters that he had refuted untruths regarding the highest degree of combat readiness of our soldiers.
“We only have half the number of soldiers we did two or three months ago.”
The defence minister and chief of the armed forces visited a “deployment zone,” Serbia announced on Wednesday, without providing any other information.
‘Worrisome’
Highly armed Serb gunmen ambushed and killed a Kosovo police officer on patrol a few kilometers from the Serbian border, starting the fighting on Sunday.
After a dozen attackers locked themselves inside an Orthodox monastery, there ensued an hour-long gun battle in which three attackers were killed and three were taken into custody.
The Kosovo government has claimed that Belgrade supported the operation, although a prominent Kosovo Serb political party member has admitted to being the gunmen’s leader, according to his lawyer.
A “very high level of sophistication” was evident in the attack, according to Kirby, which included 20 trucks, “military-grade” weaponry, gear, and training.
“It’s alarming. It doesn’t appear to be just a group of guys who met up to do this, he said.
Kirby also stated that KFOR, a NATO peacekeeping force, would be “increasing its presence” after the attack.
“A NATO officer who spoke on condition of anonymity stated that KFOR has decided to “increase its presence and activity” in the northern region of Kosovo, where the Serb minority is concentrate.”
He continued, “In order for KFOR to carry out its peacekeeping duty, we might need to make further adjustments.”
Belgrade and Moscow have refused to acknowledge Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence after a brutal war in 1998–1999 saw the breakaway province declare independence from Serbia.
Long-standing tensions between the Serb minority and the ethnic Albanian majority have been worse in recent months in northern Kosovo.