Kosovo minister accuses Serbia of trying to destabilize country

Tensions flared in Kosovo as its local Serb minority continues to protest against Kosovan authorities. Kosovo’s interior minister Xhelal Svecla accused Serbia of backing the Serb minority protests against the Kosovan government.

Svecla on Tuesday issued a statement on the recent protests and blockades by the Serb minority in northern Kosovo. Svecla said that Serbia, under Russia’s influence, is trying to destabilize Kosovo by supporting the Serb minority’s blockades and by putting its army on alert in potentially escalating tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.

“It is precisely Serbia, influenced by Russia, that has raised a state of military readiness and that is ordering the erection of new barricades in order to justify and protect the criminal groups that terrorize…citizens of Serb ethnicity living in Kosovo,” said Svecla.

Serbia has denied the accusation, saying that it only wants to protect its minority residing in Kosovo. However, Belgrade said on Monday that due to the latest events and the belief that Kosovo was preparing to attack Serbs and forcefully remove the barricades, it has ordered its army and police to be on high alert.

Serb President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday that Belgrade will “continue to fight for peace and seek compromise solutions.”

Ethnic Serbs residing in northern Kosovo have put up barricades in and around the area of Mitrovica since December 10. They have also clashed with Kosovan police after the arrest of a former Serb policeman for allegedly assaulting current police officers.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after the 1998-1999 war, where NATO intervened to protect Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority population. The 50,000 ethnic Serbs residing in northern Kosovo refuse to recognize Pristina’s authority, only seeing Belgrade as their capital.

On Wednesday, Kosovo closed its biggest border crossing after Serb protesters blocked the Serbia side in solidarity with Serbs in northern Kosovo. Only three entry points between the two countries remain.

“If you have already entered Serbia then you have to use other border crossings or go through North Macedonia,” said the Kosovan foreign ministry in a post on Facebook, announcing the closure of the Merdare border crossing.