Serbian army soldiers stand guard by their armoured vehicles in the village of Rudnica near the southern Serbian town of Raska on September 27, 2021, where tensions are high at the border between Kosovo and Serbia as Belgrade deployed four armoured vehicles close to the frontier, an AFP correspondent saw.(Photo by IRFAN LICINA/AFP via Getty Images)
The conflict between Serbia and Kosovo has flared up yet again after Joe Biden failed to follow up on President Trump’s peace deal for the two sides. On Monday, Serbia deployed tanks and troops near Kosovo border in response to Kosovan officials taking off license plates from Serbian cars.
This comes after former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell said Biden squandered Trump’s historic deal between Serbia and Kosovo, which was signed on September 4, 2020. Serbia said Kosovan officials have been taking an increasingly hostile stance.
“It’s been several days of these activities, aimed only at raising tensions and threatening the Serbian people. That must be stopped,” asserted Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic. “The situation has to return to as it had been before when the circumstances were, I can’t say normal, because they have not been normal for the past 21 years, and then we can sit down and talk.”
Serbia and Kosovo need to unconditionally de-escalate the situation on the ground. Any further provocations, unilateral or uncoordinated actions are unacceptable.
The EU-facilitated Dialogue remains the only platform to address & resolve all open issues.https://t.co/GVv54dKRBb
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) September 26, 2021
Kosovo accused Serbia of violating terms of an EU-mediated peace process and refused to let Kosovan police into Serbia. Belgrade has rejected such accusations.
Source: One America News Network
