The crisis situation in Kosovo is too tough for NATO forces as an escalation factor — EADaily, May 30, 2023 — Politics, Russia News

NATO-led international security forces in Kosovo (KFOR) have become a source of unnecessary violence and an escalating factor in the region. This is stated in the comments of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, circulated today, May 30, in connection with the escalation of anti-Serb violence in Kosovo.

“The crisis situation in the municipalities of Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavić, which was quite amenable to a calm compromise solution, turned out to be too tough for the “peacekeepers” of NATO forces for Kosovo. They not only showed their unprofessionalism, but also became a source of unnecessary violence, an escalation factor,” – noted in the commentary.

“As a result, those who are obliged to protect the local Serb majority from the arbitrariness of the Kosovars, took the side of the xenophobic aspirations of Pristina, turned into actual accomplices of terror – in the role of the personal guard of Kosovo Albanian impostors who called themselves “authorities” and settled in administrative buildings,” the diplomat pointed out.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the West to “silence false propaganda” and stop blaming the Serbs for the incidents in Kosovo. As Zakharova’s comment emphasizes, decisive steps are needed to de-escalate the situation in the region.

“We call on the West to finally silence their false propaganda, to stop blaming the incidents in Kosovo on the desperate Serbs who are peacefully, without weapons in their hands, trying to defend their legitimate rights and freedoms. This is the very case when in the search for the guilty mediators from the US and the EU it is better to muster up the courage and look in the mirror. Decisive steps are needed to de-escalate, and not half-measures like the idea of ​​the Americans to temporarily “resettle” the newly-minted “mayors” from municipal buildings to other facilities,” – the comment says.