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Reuters
BRUSSELS — NATO will step up its peacekeeping forces in Kosovo if tensions with neighboring Serbia escalate, alliance chiefs said Wednesday on the eve of EU-facilitative talks between estranged Western Balkan neighbors.
"We now have the important task of stationing her nearly 4,000 troops in Kosovo," Jens Stoltenberg said in a meeting with Serbian President Alexander Vucic in Brussels. said at a later press conference.
"When necessary, we will move our forces, place them where we need them, and increase our presence. We already have a presence in the north. We will do more. We are ready.”
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo erupted this month on Serbs living in the north, where Pristina does not recognize Kosovar institutions with the support of Belgrade. It intensified when he said he would mandate the use of vehicle license plates. Published in Pristina.
Kosovar Prime Minister Alvin Kurti agrees to postpone license plate rules until 1 September, under pressure from US and European Union, NATO peacekeepers set up by Serbs After overseeing the removal of the blocked road block, the situation calmed down.
However, Vucic said at his NATO press conference that talks with Kurti on Thursday would be facilitated by his EU, but would be difficult as the two sides disagreed on almost everything. Told.
Kosovo won independence from Serbia in her 2008, almost a decade after a guerrilla uprising against oppressive Belgrade rule.
Serbia legally still considers Kosovo an integral part of its territory. are accused of Serbs make up 5% of Kosovo's 1.8 million population, 90% of which are Albanians.
Vucic said Serbia wanted to avoid an escalation of the situation, but it was important to see Kosovo as Serbian territory and to understand that there is now a "new generation of young people who can't stand it". rice field. terrorism. " (Reporting by John Chalmers, Editing by Jonathan Ortiz)
