NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that maintaining a peaceful and secure environment in Kosovo is key to the stability of the wider region of the Western Balkans.
In a year-end speech posted on the social network X, the head of the military alliance stated that tensions in the Western Balkans are escalating.
“We live in a more dangerous world. There is a fully fledged war in Europe. A new war in the Middle East. Tensions in the Western Balkans are increasing. Brutal terrorism persists and climate change is driving conflicts. There can be no security without strong defenses. And, no strong defenses without capable armed forces,” said Stoltenberg.
This year, NATO deployed hundreds of additional forces to its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo – KFOR – following disturbances caused by the installation of Albanian mayors in four Serb-majority municipalities in north Kosovo, where dozens of KFOR soldiers were injured during protests by local Serbs boycotting the local elections in April – and after the incident in Banjska in September, where armed groups of Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police, killing one officer.
The alliance’s military mission currently counts more than 4,600 troops in Kosovo.
“Just last month, I met KFOR troops in north Kosovo. Helping maintain a safe and secure environment for all in Kosovo is key for the stability of the wider Western Balkans region,” he said.
The event on September 24 in Banjska has been described as the most serious since Kosovo declared its independence in 2008 and has raised international concerns about stability in the country.
Kosovo has blamed the Serbian state for the attack, while Serbia accuses Serbs in Kosovo. Milan Radojičić, former deputy chairman of the Serb List, took responsibility and remains free in Belgrade.
Last month, Stoltenberg pledged that the Western military alliance would do everything to maintain peace in the Western Balkans.
Most recently, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien warned Kosovo and Serbia that causing disturbances in north Kosovo implies a confrontation with NATO.
“It is important for both parties to understand that if there is any disturbance in the north, this implies a confrontation with NATO,” O’Brien said on November 27.
He stated that north Kosovo must be calm and secure so that Kosovo and Serbia can make political progress on their path towards European Union integration.
