The US ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, announced Tuesday that Washington was kicking Pristina out of the US-led Defender Europe military exercises over its treatment of the ethnic Serb population of northern Kosovo.
The move was a punishment for Kosovo trying to forcibly install ethnic Albanian mayors in three Serb-majority towns. The mayors won office in elections that were boycotted by the Serbs, who have never accepted Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, which was formally declared in 2008.
When Kosovo police used force against Serb protesters on May 26, Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed the move and blamed Pristina for the tensions, a rare rebuke from the US, one of the staunchest supporters of Kosovo’s independence. Blinken said Kosovo’s actions “will have consequences for our bilateral relations with Kosovo.”
Hovenier said suspending Kosovo from the Defender Europe exercises was one consequence and signaled other action might be taken. “For Kosovo, those exercises are over,” he said.
“We have asked [Kosovar Prime Minister Albin] Kurti to take steps toward reducing tensions in the north. He has not responded to these requests and we are analyzing what our other actions will be,” Hovenier said.
The US wants Kosovo’s government not to insist the mayors work from the municipal buildings that have been blocked by protesters and for police to withdraw from the buildings in the three northern towns.
NATO troops got involved in the stand-off on Monday and moved to disperse Serb protesters. The ensuing violence injured 52 Serb protesters and 30 members of NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission. In response, NATO is sending 700 more troops to Kosovo.
And who will fall for this? US has managed to pressure Serbia to defacto marginalize Serb manority in Northen Kosovo, Region that had Serb tun judiciaery, police. lical government — has now nothing. The maneuvering insured that Serb candidates were non-existent in mayoral races, population boycoted the election, and sure enough, Albanians were “elected” to run Serb majotlrity counties. The abuse of power exhibited over years by Kosovo authorities nevet elicited concern before?
While Albanians are given slap on the wrist, now that all the rights have been taken away from manority polulation. Well, wel, NATO sent in its KFOR forces to do the difty deed, But 50 are unjured, mostly Hungarians and Italians.
The “punishment” of Prishtina government is a game – to calm the situation in Serbia. The protests there can topple the government, Populatiin is outraged iver a number of tragedies at home, and is watching with disbelief what is happening in Kosovo. It is so unstable, that US is finding it necessary to pretend to care for Serbian lopulation if Kosovo. That would be the first one.
In response, NATO is sending 700 more troops to Kosovo
The proper response would be to withdraw 700 troops.
Clinton used that war to keep our eyes off of Monica and that cigar and now we care after all these years?
Clinton used that war to keep NATO in existence. We may not care about Clinton and Monica but we and the Ukrainians are paying dearly for NATO’s warmongering
Yes, Yugoslavia needed re-Balkanized, a version in miniature of the NATO plan for Russia.
The very same people who partitioned Yugoslavia and ushered in their proxies in Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia, and destroyed Serbia. In order to pilfer the regions resources. Are now coming to regret those decisions because of the instability it brings the region. Or did you think the ethnic Muslims in that region were not going to seek retribution for past battles and war crimes. Croatia aligned themselves with Nazi Germany during WWII against the allied aligned Serbs. Yet the West in it’s constant alliance bait and switch gamesmanship bombed Serbia into the stone age. NOT a good look NATO.
So, will there be bombing of Kosovo II? Ala Clinton?