Serbia wants to send soldiers to Kosovo

After growing tensions, Serbia wants to send its own troops to Kosovo. But it must be approved by NATO’s security force, KFOR.

Serbia wants to ask the NATO security force KFOR to allow the deployment of Serbian police officers and armed forces in Kosovo after escalating ethnic tensions. President Aleksandar Vucic announced this at a press conference in Belgrade on Saturday evening. However, he did not see an opportunity for KFOR to approve this.

Prior to that, there had been roadblocks and gun battles with police in predominantly Serb northern Kosovo. After a war with Serbia in the 1990s, Kosovo declared its independence in 2008. Germany and other EU countries recognize Kosovo as an independent state, while Serbia and Russia do not.

In addition, local elections scheduled for December in northern Kosovo will be postponed to April. President Vijosa Usmani said on Saturday after consulting with political parties that the move was necessary to ensure a high voter turnout and invite visitors to the polls.

Currently, the election is scheduled to be held on April 23. They were originally scheduled for December 18. However, many Serbs announced they would boycott the elections. Serbian mayors and municipal representatives recently resigned from some municipalities in northern Kosovo in protest against the government in Pristina. Then elections became necessary. The Western Balkan nation of Kosovo plans to apply for EU membership in 2022.