The Serbian president is threatening to invade Kosovo, which Belgrade does not recognize as an independent state. If Trump wins the US presidential election and NATO weakens, Serbian forces may go into action on Vucsic’s orders.
What we are seeing in the Balkans is the same Russian geopolitical subversion that Putin is perpetrating in Georgia and Moldova – weaponizing secessionist movements and exploiting frozen conflicts. The government of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic benefits from its alliance with Moscow, having an advocate on the UN Security Council blocking Kosovo’s UN membership and campaigning internationally against official recognition – writes Privátbankár.
The Kremlin, through its looming presence in the Serbian media space and political and religious ties that help fuel Serbian nationalism and weaken state institutions, also bolsters Belgrade’s ambitions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro.
The air is again full of gunpowder in Kosovo Photo: Wikipedia
The Serb-controlled Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republika Srpska) has become a client state of Russia, as evidenced by the expansion of its diplomatic, political, economic and security relations with Moscow.
In addition, Serbia continues to acquire heavy weapons from Moscow, including air defense systems, fighter jets and attack helicopters, despite Washington’s constant warnings of sanctions.
“We will wait for the right time and seize the opportunity…”
That was the ominous warning from the Serbian president last weekend as the West rallied firmly behind Kosovo as the long-running Balkan conflict continued to heat up.
Already in December, Vucic spoke admiringly of the current and former presidents of Azerbaijan, who waited a total of 27 years for the “right time” and geopolitical conditions to recapture Nagorno-Karabakh. Already last September, Vucsic commanded Serbian troops to the border with Kosovo, after a Serbian paramilitary group attacked the Kosovo police and barricaded themselves in a monastery.
There is certainly no imminent threat of a new Balkan war, but the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo has been escalating for months. Here we are talking about the independent status of Kosovo, which Serbia – supported by Moscow and Beijing – does not recognize. The EU and the US have been trying to find a solution for years, but the situation has stalled.
Vucsics hopes for a radical change in geopolitical conditions. For example, in the victory of Donald Trump in the American presidential election, since the radical weakening of NATO can have a positive effect on his calculations.
As president, Trump supported the territory exchange between Serbia and Kosovo. This envisaged that northern Kosovo, with a local Serbian majority, would be annexed to Serbia, while the Presevo region in southern Serbia, where the local Albanian majority lives, would be annexed to Kosovo. However, experts have warned that any border shift could be a prelude to a new regional conflict.
Source: Privátbankár.hu