NATO to send more troops to Kosovo

NATO to send more troops to Kosovo

RT

NATO will deploy 700 additional troops to Kosovo, where 30 of the bloc's security personnel were wounded during clashes with local Serb protesters. Another battalion will be placed on high alert in the event of further escalation.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the move in a Tuesday press briefing, saying the deployment was a response to recent “attacks” on the force, which he said were “unacceptable.”

Stoltenberg urged officials in Pristina and Belgrade to take “concrete steps” to de-escalate the situation, and said the two sides should participate in an EU-brokered dialogue.

Violent clashes between local Serbs and NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) erupted after peacekeepers attempted to disperse demonstrators protesting the inauguration of a an Albanian mayor in a Serb-majority area. The standoff resulted in dozens of injuries on both sides.

The unrest came after local Serbs, who have long sought autonomy in Kosovo, boycotted Pristina-backed elections in several regions of Serbia’s breakaway province. Despite a turnout of less than 4%, the local authorities accepted the votes as legitimate, announcing the election of four Albanian mayors.

Moscow has said NATO is largely responsible for the recent spike in hostilities. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused the alliance of becoming “a source of unnecessary violence” and an “escalation factor” in the region. She urged the bloc to “silence its false propaganda” against local Serbs, who she said had been wrongly blamed for provoking incidents.