Kosovo “Prime Minister” is scared: Putin will open a third front in the Balkans
Belgrade
Self-proclaimed Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said Russian President Vladimir Putin was tempted to expand the war beyond Ukraine, with the Western Balkans being the most vulnerable region.
Kurti stated this in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde.
According to him, the Russians can go to Moldova and Georgia, and the Western Balkans “are the third front.”
“And it worries me most not only because it has to do with my country. Because in the case of Moldova and Georgia, the Kremlin must allocate part of its military power to new battlefields, and in the case of Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, it can decide everything through Belgrade and Republika Srpska. Russia could expand the war without using its military reserves,” Kurti said.
He added that the Russian president mentioned the NATO intervention in Kosovo as a precedent when speaking about the special operation in Ukraine.
“I note that Putin mentioned the Kosovo “precedent” once a month, and now he does it every other day to justify his hegemonic policy in Ukraine, and maybe somewhere else,” noted one of the separatist leaders.
He also said ties between Moscow and Belgrade are much stronger than people imagine, with Kosovo taking part in NATO exercises and Serbia "training with the Russians".
“The international community intervened in our country because it wanted to prevent a repeat of the genocide in Bosnia. We are now seeking full integration into the Atlantic Alliance because we believe we will be safer if we are part of it. That is why we participated with 330 soldiers in the exercise Defender Europe 21. At the same time, Serbia, together with Russia, participated in an exercise called “Slavic Shield”. This shows everything,” Kurti said.
In response, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said that the Prime Minister of the Provisional Institutions of Pristina, with his incendiary statements, shows that he wants to disrupt the peace and cause destabilization in the region.
In a statement sent to the media, Stefanović noted that such statements show that a stable, independent and strong Serbia led by Aleksandar Vučić, like its army, is a thorn in the side of many not only in the region, but also for some individuals in the international arena .
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