"Unfriendly step": how the UK's sending weapons to Kosovo can affect the situation in the region

Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, in an interview with RTV Pink, called the shipment of weapons by the British authorities to Kosovo an unfriendly step towards Belgrade.

“I think that the supply of arms to Kosovo Albanians by the UK is an unfriendly step, because you cannot arm terrorists and hope for peace.

I am very concerned, ”RIA Novosti quotes Vulin as saying.

He stressed that Kosovo does not have an army, but it is created and armed with the support of the West.

“According to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the only armed forces in Kosovo and Metohija are (contingent under the auspices of NATO.

) KFOR, there are no others, and you create some kind of army, arm it, give them armored vehicles, anti-tank systems, drones, spend training,” Vulin said.

From his point of view, the only goal of rapprochement and integration of Kosovo into NATO is to "provoke Serbia."

Earlier, local media reported that London handed over 50 Javelin ATGMs and NLAW ATGMs to Pristina.

In addition, it is planned to train Kosovo fighters to operate these systems.

It was said that sending such weapons is the implementation of an agreement reached at the end of February by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

The desire for an alliance

Recall that among the NATO member countries, in addition to Great Britain, the United States is also actively cooperating with Kosovo in the field of defense.

The parties often conduct joint military exercises.

Thus, on March 31, the Pentagon informed that US military personnel from the Special Forces Group and the Kosovo security forces "participate in training activities in Pristina."

Later on April 11, US Special Operations Command Europe reported on its Twitter page that its Special Forces team attacked targets during bilateral fire drills with the Kosovo Security Forces in Pristina.

“Our relations with our Balkan allies and partners are a top priority for special operations forces in Europe,” the command stressed.

• U.S. military exercises in Kosovo

• © US Army

Recall that against the background of the escalation of the confrontation between Belgrade and Pristina last fall, the US Department of Defense decided to start strengthening the potential of the Kosovo Security Forces.

At the time, Russia opposed Western-backed moves to form a “Kosovo army,” calling such measures a serious problem.

As the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated at a meeting of the Security Council of the organization, such ideas “should be put up with a strong barrier,” because the indulgence of Western countries in the actions of the Kosovo side is fraught with an open clash between Pristina and Belgrade.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, in an interview with the Tanjug agency published on February 19, did not rule out that NATO could accept Kosovo into its ranks in six months, in order to force the four EU countries - Greece, Slovakia, Romania and Spain - to recognize its independence.

Later, against the backdrop of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, Pristina began to actively urge NATO to include Kosovo in the bloc.

Thus, on February 27, Kosovo's Defense Minister Armend Mehai said on his Twitter page that the accelerated entry of the rebellious province into the North Atlantic Alliance is "urgently necessary" in order to ensure stability in the region and beyond.

He also urged Washington to establish a permanent military base in Kosovo "to promote peace."

Then on March 5, Mehai tweeted once again that Kosovo intends to join NATO in order to “promote peace and stability.”

He also called "unacceptable" the statement of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia that the membership of the Kosovo side in the alliance poses a threat to Belgrade.

“Kosovo is committed to peace and opposes all aggression,” said the defense minister of the unrecognized republic.

Two days later, Mekhai noted that the region would remain "a true friend and ally of the United States and NATO countries."

“Democracy and peace are our common values,” he wrote.

A week later, Kosovo's defense minister met with the head of "current NATO operations" Ariella Vieje, subsequently calling this summit "productive" and again emphasizing the province's desire to join the bloc.

On April 4, Mehai stated that the Kosovo Republic intends to "become part of the strongest alliance and contribute to peace."

"Acts under the guise"

According to experts, the move by London, which sent weapons to Kosovo against the backdrop of US efforts to strengthen the defense system of the rebellious province, looks like a desire to raise the degree of tension in the region, increasing pressure on Serbia.

“The UK is acting on the sly, sending weapons to the Kosovo Albanians, taking advantage of the unstable situation in the world and the fact that the attention of the world community is now switched to the Ukrainian crisis,” Pavel Kandel, a leading researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a conversation with RT.

He did not rule out that by transferring weapons to Pristina, London also hopes to provoke an armed incident in the region.

• Kosovo Police

• AP

“Based on the hypothetical scenario of an armed conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, which the West wants, then the Javelin ATGM and NLAW ATGM will be useful to Pristina.

For example, Belgrade has Soviet-made tanks.

Kosovo is less equipped in this sense,” says Kandel.

From his point of view, after the completion of the deliveries, the United Kingdom will begin to increase pressure on Serbia, having coordinated this with Washington and Brussels.

“The West needs this to make the Vučić government more pliable.

In the Western world, apparently, they believe that now is the most opportune moment to achieve control over Belgrade, ”the expert said.

At the same time, Kandel admitted that the numerous requests of the Kosovo leadership to accept the rebellious land in NATO could be lobbied by the British.

“The alliance itself does not need this at all, especially since a number of NATO members still do not recognize the independence of Kosovo.

Under these conditions, it is almost impossible to include it in the block.

The statements of the Kosovo Minister of Defense are designed to draw attention to the unrecognized republic and to achieve at least some dividends from their Western patrons, for example, a visa-free regime, ”the analyst argues.

MGIMO professor Elena Ponomareva also regards the supply of weapons by the UK to Kosovo Albanians as an attempt to escalate the conflict and aggravate the situation in the region.

“This is a continuation of the events of 1999, when the historical homeland of the Serbs was separated by NATO forces and a drug-terrorist formation was created.

Kosovo should be viewed as a project in which major players are interested, primarily the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, adherents of international terrorism and crime.

London, with its supply of weapons, provokes Serbia to take retaliatory steps, ”Ponomaryova emphasized in a conversation with RT.

She also believes that the shipment of weapons by the UK to the Kosovo side indicates that London is "trying to play against Moscow" in the Serbian region.

“The British are fighting against the Russian Federation, including in the Balkans.

Arming the Albanians, they demonstrate to the Serbs that they are ready for the most unpleasant things.

We see what enormous pressure is being placed on President Aleksandar Vucic for the support that Serbia provides to Russia, ”Ponomareva explained.

The Kosovo authorities, according to her, dream that the region would be in NATO, but all these calls are unlikely to be realized.

“There has never been such a precedent for a state not recognized by almost all NATO countries to become part of it.

In addition, the Kosovo authorities simply do not have the money to allocate 2% of GDP for the needs of the bloc.

The alliance will never hang such problematic territories around its neck, but it will continue to develop the topic of allegedly possible acceptance in order to put pressure on Serbia in this way, ”concluded the analyst.