Kosovo has agreed to European Union demands to de-escalate the tense stand-off in its northern regions, including the reduction of a heavy police presence there.
The announcement was made by the Kosovo Government late on July 11.
It said it will show “its readiness to contribute to the de-escalation of the situation”, and will not undertake “actions that could escalate” tensions in its Serb-majority townships in the North.
“This includes an immediate 25 per cent reduction in police presence in and around municipal buildings,” the statement continued.
The move followed a meeting in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava between Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Besmili and Miroslav Lajčák, the EU’s special envoy for Serbia-Kosovo relations.
Afterwards, Lajčák tweeted that the meeting had been “intense” but that they had agreed on making certain steps.
Held intense bilateral discussions today in Bratislava with DPM @BislimiBesnik on de-escalation of the situation in north Kosovo, in line with the EU27 statement from 3 June, and the way forward in implementing all Dialogue Agreements. We agreed on first steps towards this goal. pic.twitter.com/spPWEf1EEL
— Miroslav Lajčák (@MiroslavLajcak) July 10, 2023
Kosovo said it intends to hold elections in the Serb-majority municipalities “after the summer”, although it did not specify a date.
It also said that the EU will invite negotiators from Serbia and Kosovo to Brussels to work on a step-by-step plan to get the two countries back on track to “normalising” their relations.
This marks a major move towards trying to pacify the situation on the Serbian-Kosovar border, which has been a hotbed of unrest.
The current problems began when longstanding tensions with the Kosovar-Serbs led them to boycott the elections in their own townships. That meant ethnic-Albanian mayors were elected with less than 5 per cent of votes available.
Riots broke out in May when the Kosovo Government tried to install those mayors into the relevant government buildings. Reuters reported that 93 officers from KFOR – NATO’s peacekeeping force – had been injured in clashes with Serb protesters, some of them severely. Medics in the North said 52 Serbs were also injured.
The violence led Kosovan law enforcement officers to arrest many Serbs they said were instigators of the rioting. However, Serbian media and representatives of the Kosovar-Serbs described the police action as “ethnic persecution”.
It prompted an escalation in tensions as Serbian troops were mobilised on the Kosovo border, with the head of the Serbian military describing the arrests as a “pogrom” – or ethnic cleansing – and threatening to intervene.
In a reversal of the 1999 situation, the West has been coming down hard on Kosovo and particularly its Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Former US President Bill Clinton, who had initially pushed for the NATO intervention that secured Kosovo’s independence, has been vociferously critical of Kurti.
The EU, for its part, slapped sanctions on Kosovo, ending EU diplomatic meetings with the country and, more importantly, cutting off its EU financial aid.
The actions of the Kosovo Government have put it at loggerheads with both its own ethnic Serb minority and with Serbia itself.
The move to reduce tensions comes as both Serbia and Kosovo are pushing for entry into the EU.
Since the EU insists that both countries must join the bloc together, it means they have to improve, or normalise, relations before they can proceed with their accession bids.
