Serbia's harsh reaction in northern Kosovo turned out to be a problem for Albanians and the West
A two-day forum dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement, held in Belgrade, became the reason for the aggravation of the situation in the Serbian enclaves in northern Kosovo.
Nikita Bondarev, associate professor of the Russian State University for the Humanities, stated this on the radio station “Moscow Speaks,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The Kosovo-Albanian authorities began by asking the participants of this summit to condemn the imperial policy of Serbia in Kosovo and the “genocide that the Serbs have carried out there for many years” and allegedly continue to deprive the Kosovo Albanians of their legal and logical rights.
None of the summit participants responded to this appeal in any way. And after this, another round of escalation of the conflict began, Albanian special forces appeared in the north of Kosovo. But since the Serbian population was wounded by previous conflicts, stones immediately flew at them, and the scenario became problematic for them. Of course, this was related to the summit. The fact that none of the participants responded to their call certainly infuriated them,” Bondarev said.
He believes that despite the aggravation, Serbia should not send troops into Kosovo.
“It would be a precedent. This would be used against Serbia by all of its enemies, along the lines of traditional anti-Serb PR campaigns. The Serbs were far-fetchedly accused of genocide, firmly establishing the common belief in public opinion: Serbs equal genocide,” Bondarev said.
At the same time, the expert recalled that, according to the UN resolution on the Kosovo settlement, Serbian armed forces of no more than 2000 people have the same right to be in the north of the region as Albanian special forces. However, he believes that things will not escalate to such an extent.
“I think that no one is interested in aggravating the situation. Including the countries of the collective West. They are trying to drag Serbia into NATO by hook or by crook. It's pretty hard. But as the generation grows up that doesn't remember 1999, perhaps. If NATO lasts another 25 years.
If the West imposes economic sanctions against Serbia or uses military means, then the small pro-Western layer in Serbia will be completely marginalized. And Serbia will finally take an anti-Western, pro-Russian and pro-Chinese track. If the people in the Washington regional committee are not completely fools, they won’t let it come to this,” concluded Bondarev.
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