The US and NATO are monitoring a large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo that has been taking place over the past week. According to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, the deployment includes an "unprecedented staging of advanced Serbian artillery, tanks, and mechanized infantry units. We believe that this is a very destabilizing development." He added: "We are calling on Serbia to withdraw those forces from the border and to contribute to lowering the temperature."
New clashes broke out last weekend when dozens of heavily armed Serb gunmen ambushed a police patrol a few miles from the Serbian border. This was followed by the insurgents barricading themselves inside of a Serbian Orthodox monastery with the priests and visiting pilgrims. A 12-hour shootout followed, leaving one police officer and three attackers dead.
According to Kirby, the attack had a "very high level of sophistication", involving around 20 vehicles, "military-grade" weapons, equipment and training. "It's worrisome. It doesn't look like just a bunch of guys who got together to do this."
NATO, which leads the KFOR international peacekeeping mission, announced Friday that it had “authorized additional forces to address the current situation” in Kosovo. These new troops would be in addition to the 500 added in June during earlier clashes.
On Friday, Britain's Ministry of Defence transferred command of an army battalion to NATO so it can provide support in Kosovo if required.
Readers are reminded that Kosovo and Serbia lie in a region of Europe known as the Balkans which is made up of countries that were once a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, declared Independence in 2008 and is currently recognized as an independent country by ~100 nations including the U.S. and a number of EU-member states.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s statehood. Neither does Russia, China, Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Romania or Greece, which have halted its path to EU membership. Russia, an ally of Serbia, has vetoed Kosovo’s membership in the UN.
If this conflict kicks off, it would be the second war on the European continent and a second potential flash point between NATO and Russia.
Russia Links US, UK to Crimea Attack
On Wednesday Russia accused the United States and Britain of helping Ukraine carry out last week's attack against the headquarters Russian Black Sea fleet in occupied Crimea. According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:
"There is no doubt that the attack had been planned in advance using Western intelligence means, NATO satellite assets and reconnaissance planes and was implemented upon the advice of [United States] and British security agencies and in close coordination with them."
Zakharova's boss, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, stated that the US is "directly at war" with Moscow:
"You can call this whatever you want to call this, but they are directly at war with us. We can call this a hybrid war, but that doesn't change the reality. They are effectively engaged in hostilities with us, using the Ukrainians as fodder."
His statement came after the White House pledged another $600 million in additional aid to Ukraine.
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