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There is no guarantee that the so-called Kosovo Army would not be used against the Serbian population, according to Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia.
He said that the creation of the army is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and added that the US and NATO are actively training and supplying the force, which in large measure consists of “terrorists”.
Nebenzia emphasized that Kosvo remains a “comfortable area” to recruit radicals returning from Syria and Iraq. The Russian diplomat recalled that criminal actions against the Serbian population are a common practice in the area and involved persons often avoid punishment.
The Russian Embassy in London released a statement condemning the approach of the UK and other Western countries, which ingore the threat for the territory’s Serbian population.
“We would want to remind once again that the prospect of creating the so-called ‘Kosovo army’ presents a direct threat to Serbians residing in the territory’s north and this drastically increases the potential for emergence of a new source of tensions in the Balkans. It is suprising that Western representatives persistently ignore this obvious fact that was mentioned, for instance, in the last half-year report by the head of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] mission in Pristina,” the statement said.
“Instead of adhering to voluntarily assumed commitments on normalizing the situation in the region, they [EU member-states] are in reality turning a blind eye to flagrant violations of international law,” it added.
“As we noted earlier, Pristina’s decision to transform Kosovo’s security forces into full-fledged ‘armed forces’ represents a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which allows only for multinational contingents under international control to be present on this territory. At the same, the decision runs counter to Kosovo’s ‘constitution’,” the Russian Embassy noted. “We regularly draw attention of representatives of countries of the Western bloc at different platforms to this outrageous fact, but certain supporters of Kosovo’s independence refute our arguments under various pretexts. The British, in particular, insist on some special ‘legal interpretation’ of the aforementioned resolution which seems to align very well with their own concept of ‘rules-based order’.”
It is important to note that the presence of terrorists in the so-called Kosovo army was raised at the international level. However, the fact, which was not addressed, is that most of these terrorists are former ISIS members, including ethnic Albanians, Bosnians as well as persons of the Middle East and North Africa descent.
In the framework of the current conflict, the UK plays a role of the main supporters of actions of the administration of the self-proclaimed Kosovo state and its supporters in the Albanian leadership. In fact, London is seeking to instigate conflict in the Balkans and to create a new point of instability. The behind the scenes reason of this behavior could be some historical grievances and complexes. Another possible reason is British attempts to weaken the EU and its key member state, Germany.
On the other hand, Berlin has a very different attitude in comparison to the one observed in 1995, during scandalous Operation Storm by Croatian forces and Bosnian muslims backed up by the US and NATO in the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Then, Germany was showing all kinds of support, including diplomatic, to the Croatian aggression. Now, Berlin is working to prevent a new armed conflict near its territory.
The US has an alike attitude, but it has other motives. Washington understands that if it supports the Kosovan-Albanian aggression against the Serbs, it could lose Serbia as a possible ally and NATO member state in the medium term. Strategically, Serbia as an ally has much more value for the US than the interests of the Kosovan separatists.
Despite the observed international pressure on the Kosovo leadership, the current complicated military and political situation in nearby regions contribute to the rise of a new hot conflict in the Balkans.
