|
"We are vigilant and ready to act...if we have an increase of
tensions, but we can also draw on reserve forces...that we can
call in at short notice," Brigadier General Luca Piperni told
reporters at KFOR headquarters in the capital Pristina.
Unrest among Kosovo Serbs over a requirement for them to use
state-issued car number plates has raised fears of conflict
between Kosovo and Serbia, more than two decades after NATO
bombed Serbia to end repression of Kosovo's Albanian majority.
Serbia does not recognise Kosovo's independence, won in 2008,
and Serbs in northern Kosovo consider Belgrade, not Pristina, to
be their capital. Around 3,700 NATO peacekeepers are still
stationed in the former Serbian province to prevent violence
between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.
Earlier attempts to introduce Kosovo licence plates in heavily
Serb northern Kosovo led to clashes between police and local
Serbs, who erected roadblocks. The barricades were only
dismantled when NATO peacekeepers stepped in to oversee the
process and Kosovo agreed to postpone the licensing rule.
Piperni said the situation was calm but fragile at the moment,
and that NATO could not rule out fresh tensions or violence in
the north as the Oct. 31 deadline approaches.
"If the situation deteriorates, we are ready to intervene, we
are ready to be in the middle between the protesters and the
security organisations," he stressed.
"We have sufficient forces to deal with the situation...With
that amount of troops we can end any kind of increase of
tensions," Piperni added, referring to troops outside Kosovo
that NATO could draw as reinforcements.
Both Kosovo and Serbia aim to join the European Union and have
agreed, as part of that membership process, to resolve their
outstanding issues and build good neighbourly relations.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
