Kosovo premier asks for more NATO troops presence in country
ISTANBUL (AA) – Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has called for an increased presence of NATO peacekeeping personnel in his country.
Kurti said “a massive bolstering of NATO troops and military equipment” in his country “would improve security and peace” not only in Kosovo but in the entire West-Balkan region.
“An increase in the number of soldiers in the NATO-supplied peacekeeping force KFOR would support our efforts in defense,” he said, showing the accumulation of Serbian forces on the border and Russian support to Serbia as reasons.
Kosovo currently has nearly 4,000 troops, called the Kosovo Force or KFOR, on the ground. The force has been present in Kosovo since 1999.
Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have escalated since the December 10, 2022, detention of former Serbian police officer Dejan Pantic on the charge of attacking election officials.
Protesting Pantic’s arrest, Kosovar Serbs have been standing guard at barricades they set up at border crossings since December 10.
Two new barricades were set up after Kosovar authorities blocked Serbian Christian Patriarch Porfirije from entering the country ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations.
Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Muslim ethnic Albanians, broke from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. However, Serbia has not recognized the move and sees the independent Muslim territory as its own.
The EU, NATO, and the US have called for de-escalation and the removal of barricades in northern Kosovo.
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