Tanks, fighter jets spotted near Kosovo border as tensions flare between Serbia and breakaway region

[canada-man]

Serbia has been moving tanks and other military hardware towards the Kosovo border, videos circulating online suggest. Tensions between the country and the breakaway region soared after Kosovo banned Serbian license plates.

A large number of Serbian main battle tanks were spotted heading towards the Kosovo border on Saturday. Videos circulating online show multiple pieces of armor carried on flatbed platforms, escorted by Serbian military police vehicle

Serbia has also apparently deployed at least two fighter jets to patrol the administrative border, another video suggests.


The show of force comes amid a new flare-up between Serbia and Kosovo, prompted by Pristina’s move to mandate that all vehicles with Serbian license plates must get Kosovo-issued temporary plates at border checkpoints before being allowed to cross into the region. The rule came into force on Monday, with motorists wishing to enter Kosovo from central Serbia now having to pay a €5 tax to receive temporary ‘Republic of Kosovo’ plates that are valid for 60 days.

Kosovo police have also been reportedly seizing Serbian license plates from drivers living in Serb-majority counties in the north of the region.


The ban prompted protests from ethnic Serbs, living in the north of the breakaway region. They have blocked two main roads in the area, leading to border crossings. The checkpoints remain blocked for a fifth consecutive day. Kosovo police said the roads have been cut off with “vehicles, heavy vehicles, gravel, etc., in different locations towards the border points Jarinje and Brnjak.”

On Saturday, Kosovo police claimed that two interior ministry offices near the border crossings were attacked. A car registration office in the town of Zubin Potok was set on fire while two hand grenades were thrown into a civil registration office in the town of Zvecan. The explosives, however, did not go off, police said.

Kosovo, predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians, broke away from Serbia following the NATO bombing campaign back in 1999. The region unilaterally declared independence in 2008. While Kosovo has been recognized by about half of the UN member states, including the US, it did not receive universal recognition. Among the countries that refused to recognize its sovereignty are Russia, China and India.

Tanks, fighter jets spotted near Kosovo border as tensions flare between Serbia and breakaway region (VIDEOS) — RT World News

 

[canada-man]

Kosovo gov’t offices targeted as tensions soar with Serbia
Kosovo PM accuses Serbia of trying to ‘provoke a serious international conflict’ after vehicle registration offices near border are attacked.


Prime Minister Albin Kurti of Kosovo has accused neighbouring Serbia of trying to “provoke a serious international conflict” after two vehicle registration offices near their border were attacked.

The increase in tension early on Saturday occurred on the sixth day of ethnic Serb protests against the ethnic Albanian-led government’s decision to require drivers with Serbian registration plates to put on temporary ones when entering Kosovo.


A registration office was torched in the small town of Zubin Potok and another damaged in Zvecan, though there were no casualties, the prime minister said.

Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla wrote on Facebook the blaze that burned down the vehicle registration office in Zubin Potok was done “by suspects in a criminal act with terrorist elements”.


Ethnic Kosovo Serbs have blocked the Kosovo-Serbia border with trucks since Monday, angry that Kosovo sent in special police to match Serbia in a number plate move that heightens tensions in the Balkans.

Kosovo now removes number plates from cars entering the country from Serbia, as Serbia does with Kosovo plates. They both force drivers to buy temporary plates.

Serbia does not recognise its former province of Kosovo as a separate nation and considers their mutual border only as a temporary boundary.

Serbia has put its army troops in regions near Kosovo on higher alert. The state RTS television reported on Saturday that Serbian military jets flew in the border area twice during the day, prompting cheers from the protesting Serbs.


On Friday, Serbian army helicopters were also seen flying over the area, Al Jazeera’s Boris Gagic reported.

“Individuals and groups, whose activities endanger the rule of law and public order, are attacking our state and disturb our peace,” Kurti said on his Facebook account on Saturday.

“Serbia is encouraging them and supports them clearly,” he added. “Serbia abuses the citizens of Kosovo in order to provoke a serious international conflict.”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has described Kosovo’s recent number-plate move as a “criminal action”, and he made the withdrawal of all Kosovar special police a condition of European Union-mediated negotiations to resolve the dispute.


But after Saturday’s incidents, Kosovo’s government did not sound ready to pull the special police back.

“These criminal acts best show what would have occurred with the border crossings in Jarinje and Brnjak unless special forces were sent there to guarantee public order and security,” Svecla, the interior minister, wrote on Facebook.


The European Union and the United States have urged Kosovo and Serbia to immediately exercise restraint and refrain from unilateral actions.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani called on the world “not to ignore what is clearly (being) seen – a Russian-Serbian tendency to damage the European Union and NATO” by increasing tensions in the Balkans.


“It is time that the international community, and first of all the EU and NATO member countries, see such a danger and prevent the Vucic regime from realizing its goal of creating the ‘Serb world,’” she wrote on Facebook, while in New York at the United Nations General Assembly.

A bloody 1998-1999 crackdown by Serbian troops against Kosovo Albanian separatists ended after a NATO intervention, and Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

It has been recognised by the US and other Western nations, but not by Serbia and allies Russia and China.

Thousands of NATO-led peacekeepers, including US troops, are still deployed in Kosovo, trying to stave off lingering ethnic tensions between majority Kosovo Albanians and minority Kosovo Serbs.

Kosovo gov’t offices targeted as tensions soar with Serbia | Kosovo News | Al Jazeera

 

[jcpro]

Kosovo gov’t offices targeted as tensions soar with Serbia
Kosovo PM accuses Serbia of trying to ‘provoke a serious international conflict’ after vehicle registration offices near border are attacked.


Prime Minister Albin Kurti of Kosovo has accused neighbouring Serbia of trying to “provoke a serious international conflict” after two vehicle registration offices near their border were attacked.

The increase in tension early on Saturday occurred on the sixth day of ethnic Serb protests against the ethnic Albanian-led government’s decision to require drivers with Serbian registration plates to put on temporary ones when entering Kosovo.


A registration office was torched in the small town of Zubin Potok and another damaged in Zvecan, though there were no casualties, the prime minister said.

Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla wrote on Facebook the blaze that burned down the vehicle registration office in Zubin Potok was done “by suspects in a criminal act with terrorist elements”.


Ethnic Kosovo Serbs have blocked the Kosovo-Serbia border with trucks since Monday, angry that Kosovo sent in special police to match Serbia in a number plate move that heightens tensions in the Balkans.

Kosovo now removes number plates from cars entering the country from Serbia, as Serbia does with Kosovo plates. They both force drivers to buy temporary plates.

Serbia does not recognise its former province of Kosovo as a separate nation and considers their mutual border only as a temporary boundary.

Serbia has put its army troops in regions near Kosovo on higher alert. The state RTS television reported on Saturday that Serbian military jets flew in the border area twice during the day, prompting cheers from the protesting Serbs.


On Friday, Serbian army helicopters were also seen flying over the area, Al Jazeera’s Boris Gagic reported.

“Individuals and groups, whose activities endanger the rule of law and public order, are attacking our state and disturb our peace,” Kurti said on his Facebook account on Saturday.

“Serbia is encouraging them and supports them clearly,” he added. “Serbia abuses the citizens of Kosovo in order to provoke a serious international conflict.”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has described Kosovo’s recent number-plate move as a “criminal action”, and he made the withdrawal of all Kosovar special police a condition of European Union-mediated negotiations to resolve the dispute.


But after Saturday’s incidents, Kosovo’s government did not sound ready to pull the special police back.

“These criminal acts best show what would have occurred with the border crossings in Jarinje and Brnjak unless special forces were sent there to guarantee public order and security,” Svecla, the interior minister, wrote on Facebook.


The European Union and the United States have urged Kosovo and Serbia to immediately exercise restraint and refrain from unilateral actions.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani called on the world “not to ignore what is clearly (being) seen – a Russian-Serbian tendency to damage the European Union and NATO” by increasing tensions in the Balkans.


“It is time that the international community, and first of all the EU and NATO member countries, see such a danger and prevent the Vucic regime from realizing its goal of creating the ‘Serb world,’” she wrote on Facebook, while in New York at the United Nations General Assembly.

A bloody 1998-1999 crackdown by Serbian troops against Kosovo Albanian separatists ended after a NATO intervention, and Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

It has been recognised by the US and other Western nations, but not by Serbia and allies Russia and China.

Thousands of NATO-led peacekeepers, including US troops, are still deployed in Kosovo, trying to stave off lingering ethnic tensions between majority Kosovo Albanians and minority Kosovo Serbs.

Kosovo gov’t offices targeted as tensions soar with Serbia | Kosovo News | Al Jazeera

If the Serbs are going to move, this is the time to do it.

 

[nottyboi]

over a effin $7.50 fee? that is FUCKED.

 

[nottyboi]

If the Serbs are going to move, this is the time to do it.

there is never any time to "do it" Western european countries would wipe out the Serbian air force in about 40 minutes.

 

[jcpro]

there is never any time to "do it" Western european countries would wipe out the Serbian air force in about 40 minutes.

EU is not going to do a thing without the Americans taking the lead and the current "administration " is still recovering from the Afghan fuck up meaning Kosovo is now standing alone. BTW, don't be so sure about the air superiority of NATO. Serbia has the backing of Russia, as it always had, and the Russian air defense system can very easily deny NATO's aircraft access to the area.

 

[nottyboi]

EU is not going to do a thing without the Americans taking the lead and the current "administration " is still recovering from the Afghan fuck up meaning Kosovo is now standing alone. BTW, don't be so sure about the air superiority of NATO. Serbia has the backing of Russia, as it always had, and the Russian air defense system can very easily deny NATO's aircraft access to the area.

Kosovo has a substantial nato presence and is a nato creation. Squashing serbia will be an easy credibility gain for the usa.

 

[jcpro]

Kosovo has a substantial nato presence and is a nato creation. Squashing serbia will be an easy credibility gain for the usa.

The Eurocrats are not going to lift a finger in defense of Kosovo if Russia gets involved(and it will).

 

[canada-man]

NATO forces in Kosovo announced Monday that peacekeepers had stepped up patrols as Serbia deployed armoured vehicles on the border with the breakaway territory amid the worst regional tensions in a decade.

The international community, led by the European Union, is calling for talks to ease tensions between Serbia and its former ethnic-Albanian majority province, whose declaration of independence in 2008 Belgrade has never recognised.

Relations have deteriorated in the last week since the Kosovo government despatched special police units to the north, an area mainly populated by ethnic Serbs who reject the authority of Pristina.

NATO steps up patrols as Kosovo-Serbia tensions soar - France 24

 

[jsanchez]

If the Serbs are going to move, this is the time to do it.

Only if Putin gives the green light, but he cares more about Ukraine and the Baltics, maybe test the waters in Kosovo first.