NATO Troops Form Security Cordons in Kosovo as Serbs Protest

Facts

• NATO peacekeepers formed security cordons around town halls in northern Kosovo on Monday to separate Albanian authorities and Serb demonstrators. The protesters were opposing ethnic Albanian mayors assuming office in a Serb majority region after they boycotted local elections in April.¹
• Kosovar police and the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) were seen protecting the municipality buildings in Zvečan, Leposavić, Zubin Potok, and Mitrovica, as Serbs reportedly gathered in the first three cities.²
• Clashes between protesters and local police — which is almost entirely made up of ethnic Albanians after most Serbs quit the force last year — erupted in Zvečan, with officers using pepper spray against the demonstrators who tried to force their way into the government offices.³
• As tensions have risen, Belgrade has sent army reinforcements to the border with Kosovo — which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 — almost ten years after the conclusion of the Balkan wars that ripped apart what was once Yugoslavia. The army has been put on a heightened state of alert.⁴
• The US and EU managed to obtain verbal agreements from the Kosovan and Serbian governments in March to defuse the long-simmering situation by granting Kosovar Serbs more autonomy, with the government in Kosovo's capital Pristina retaining ultimate authority. However, tensions have remained on multiple issues, with Western nations calling on Kosovo's government to de-escalate the crisis.⁴
• A powerful Serb party leader called for Kosovar forces to withdraw from the municipal buildings to be replaced by KFOR peacekeepers instead. The dispute has larger geopolitical implications, as Serbia is supported by Russia, and the US and Europe support Kosovo's independence.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Associated Press, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴DW, and ⁵BBC News.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Though Pristina needs to avoid escalating this situation any further and shares some of the blame for recent tensions, ultimately, it's Serbia that is stoking conflict in Kosovo. The only reason there are now ethnically Albanian mayors in Serbian-majority regions is that the Serbs in those regions boycotted local elections, directly leading to their lack of political representation. Mediation and cooperation is the only way forward.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by RT International. Kosovo's political leadership is stoking the current tensions between Serbs and Albanians. Voter turnout for the recent local elections in northern Kosovo was less than 5%, rendering the so-called "elected" mayors completely illegitimate. Ironically, though the only reason for Kosovo's separatist aspirations is Western pressure, the West is now condemning Kosovo's government for its violent actions against Serbs.

Predictions