Serbian fighter jets entered Kosovo airspace amid tensions between the two states

Two Serbian Air Force fighter jets flew over the Jarinje border post on Sunday, in northern Kosovo, amid an escalation of tensions on the edge between the two countriesSerbian public television RTS reported.

Con barricadas de los serbios del norte de Kosovo, unidades especiales de la policía albano-kosovar, y una elevada preparación de combate de las fuerzas militares de ambos lados, las tensiones desatadas por la reciente prohibición kosovar a la entrada de vehículos con matrícula serbia increasing.

Several Belgrade media today claimed that tanks and other military equipment were heading for the border, without the Serbian army confirming or denying these claims.

The situation comes after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic ordered last Thursday to raise the combat readiness alert for army units near the Kosovar border to grade 2 on an ascending ladder that goes from 1 to 3 degrees.

Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic today visited troops in southern Serbia with the Russian Ambassador, who assured Moscow’s full support to Belgrade.

For their part, the Kosovo police today accused Serbs loyal to Belgrade of burning a Kosovar car license plate office in Zubin Potok (north) on Friday evening, but they published that the fire was probably due to obsolete electrical installations.

The entrance to another similar office was forced open and two unexploded hand grenades were found there. In neither case were there any casualties.

From Brussels, the high representative of the Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, asked this Sunday for an unconditional de-escalation of these tensions.

“Serbia and Kosovo must unconditionally defuse the situation on the ground, immediately withdraw special police units and dismantle roadblocks. Any other unilateral and uncoordinated provocation or action is unacceptable, ”Borrell said in a statement.

“It is crucial that Belgrade and Pristina show restraint and resume dialogue”, under the aegis of Brussels, tweeted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who had a phone conversation with Serbian President and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Escalating conflicting relations between Serbia and its former province (Kosovo), whose independence Belgrade does not recognize, skyrocketed after Kosovo police decided a week ago to ban vehicles with Serbian registration of Kosovo.

Therefore, the only way to access Kosovo is replace Serbian license plates with “temporary” ones, valid for 60 days, in addition to the payment of around five euros, a measure that sparked protests among the population of northern Kosovo, which is predominantly Serbian.

In protest against the Kosovar demand, the Kosovo Serbs blocked the border posts at Jarinje and Brnik, and Pristina sent special police units to prevent incidents.

The Kosovo Serbs and Belgrade assure that the measure affects the freedom of movement and the economic, health and other activities of the Serbian population in Kosovo.

Pristina assures that the measure is applied after the expiration of a 2016 agreement with Serbia on license plates, and that it is “reciprocal”, in response to what Belgrade is doing on its territory, where it has removed Kosovar vehicle registration plates. for years in Serbia.

(with information from the EFE)

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