The resentments between Serbia and Kosovo have by no means subsided after so many years since the war of the 90s. Over the years there have been many moments of friction, but last night the situation became very tense when the Kosovo authorities closed two border crossings with Serbia due to roadblocks put in place by Kosovar demonstrators of Serbian ethnicity to protest against new laws passed by the government on identity documents e car plates, effective from today.
International media report that the Serbian president Aleksandr Vuchic, in a televised speech, he showed a map of Kosovo covered by the Serbian flag and warned that if the Serbs are threatened, Serbia will emerge victorious.
The news is fragmentary at the moment but alarms have been heard throughout northern Kosovo, while churches and monasteries have repeatedly rang the bells. In some cases they would have been warned of the gunshots and observed troop movements on the border between the two countries.
Ethnic Kosovar demonstrators blocked the roads leading to the border crossings in Jarinje e Bernjak, forcing the authorities to decide its closure. Local media report that the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) sent soldiers to patrol the streets. Protesters protest against Pristina's decision to impose starting tomorrow also to Serbs living in Kosovo the exclusive use of Kosovan identity cards and license plates. Since the 1999 war, Kosovo had tolerated the use of license plates issued by Serbian institutions in four municipalities in the north of the country where Serbian majorities are present. From now on, however, the use of plates with the acronym will be mandatory rks, i.e. Republic of Kosovo. Car owners have until the end of September to make the change.
The Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic, speaking to the nation, he stated that "the Kosovo Serbs will not tolerate further persecution. We will seek peace, but let me tell you that we will not give up. Serbia is not a country that can be defeated as easily as it was in Milosevic's time".
For some time now, the tension between the two Balkan countries has been increasing in intensity and Belgrade denounces persecution of the Serbian minority in Kosovo. This would also be one of the triggering reasons, combined with the fact of a possible - according to Serbian statements - "Invasion by Kosovar troops starting from midnight between Sunday and Monday 1 August".
La Russia "asks Pristina, the United States and the European Union to stop the provocations and to respect the rights of the Serbs in Kosovo ”. This was stated by the spokeswoman for the Russian foreign minister, Maria Zakharova. Zakharova also pointed out that such a development of events is another proof of the failure of the EU mediation mission.
The war in Kosovo of 1999
The ethnic clash in the former Yugoslavia did not end with the solution of the Bosnian affair, but experienced a further drift in the territory of Kosovo, a region of Serbia that had enjoyed a certain autonomy under the Tito regime and where the majority of the population (beyond 80%) were Muslim and ethnic Albanian.
Serbian leader Milosevic, who considered Kosovo a sacred territory for the Serbs, took away its autonomy from the region: when, in 1990, Kosovo proclaimed itself an independent republic, Belgrade dissolved the local parliament of authority.
At that point, the Kosovo Albanians elected a new Parliament and, immediately afterwards, the first bloody terrorist actions of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) began, which caused a very harsh repression by the Serbian forces and the beginning of a bloody civil war. In February 1998 the Serbian bombings attracted the attention of international public opinion, while thousands of people, to escape death, left their homes and many arrived in Albania, Greece and Macedonia. In the autumn of the same year, NATO threatened Milosevic to bomb Serbia if the ethnic cleansing operations against the Albanian Kosovars did not stop.
After the failure of an attempt at a diplomatic solution to the crisis, NATO decided to intervene militarily (through bombing of military targets in Serbia and Kosovo), with the humanitarian intent of saving the civilian population of Kosovo from deportations and mass massacres. After 78 days from the military intervention, an agreement was reached, which put an end to the war and which required Serbia to withdraw its troops and to recognize the presence in Kosovo of a military contingent composed of NATO and Russian forces, under the control of the UN. , in order to ensure the restoration of normal living conditions in the region. However, Kosovo remained an area of tension, held in check only by the presence of thousands of NATO troops under the aegis of the UN.
On June 28, 2001, Milosevic was handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for Crimes in the former Yugoslavia for trial. On 11 March 2006, however, he was found dead, under unclear circumstances, in his cell in the prison in The Hague. Milosevic's death preceded by a few months the presumable date of conclusion of the trial against him; in March 2006 the Tribunal officially terminated the criminal action and closed the most important trial for which it had been instituted without a sentence.
The NATO military in Kosovo
On June 12, 1999, the first NATO forces entered Kosovo on a UN mandate at the end of the Alliance air campaign that had put an end to the bloody inter-ethnic conflict between Kosovars and Serbs.
For having contributed uninterruptedly for 21 years to the security and freedom of movement of all citizens of Kosovo, in compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244, the KFOR mission has represented and still represents a fundamental factor of stability.
With over 50.000 soldiers in 1999, the multinational contingent currently has just under 4000 soldiers supplied by 27 nations.
ITALY. The Italians are located at the headquarters in Pristina and at the Regional Command West based in Belo-Polje.
Al Regional Command West (RC-W) of KFOR, a short but solemn ceremony was held days ago that saw the regiment Piedmont Cavalry (2 °), the department that leads the multinational unit at the “Camp Villaggio Italia” base, to celebrate the considerable milestone of the 330 years of its constitution and to start operations in the Kosovar operating theater.
A traditional memorial stone was inaugurated in the presence of the representatives of the 10 nations that make up RC-W and the 97th commander, Colonel Ivano Marotta, dedicated a thought to the values and the centuries-old history of the Banner of Piedmont Cavalry, as a reminder to continue working with the same dedicated self-denial that originated in 1692, also and above all towards the delicate tasks entrusted by KFOR.
The regiment Piedmont Cavalry (2 °), explorer unit of the alpine brigade "Julia", took office last July 26 under the command of RC-W, in the locality of Belo-Polje near the town of Peja / Pec.