Serbia has threatened military action against neighbouring Kosovo after the Kosovan parliament approved the creation of a new army. Kosovan MPs voted this weekend to expand the existing Kosovo Security Force into a 5,000-troop army, plus 3,000 reservists.
Belgrade called the move a “direct threat to peace and stability” in the Balkans.
The vote was described as “ill-timed” by Nato’s secretary general. “I regret that this decision was made despite concerns expressed by Nato,” said Jens Stoltenberg, warning it could destabilise a region where efforts to ease tensions have been ongoing for decades.
But the US called the new army “historic” and said it supported “Kosovo’s sovereign right” to maintain forces.
Belgrade fears the army could be used to chase the Serbs out of Kosovo’s north, a claim strongly denied by Kosovan leaders in Pristina.
Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic, who visited his country’s troops near the border with Kosovo on Friday, later denounced the US for its support of a Kosovan army and praised allies Russia and China for their opposition.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres called on “all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from actions that could raise tensions”.
Serbian intervention in Kosovo would mean confrontation with thousands of Nato peacekeepers, who have been stationed in Kosovo since 1999. Analysts says any action by Serbia’s 28,000-strong army is unlikely, given Belgrade’s desire to join the EU.
