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Rising tensions in Kosovo could spiral into bloodshed, Russian envoy to Serbia says

The Russian diplomat added that the territorial policy of the Kosovo authorities was the main reason for the esclation of the situation in the region

MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. The situation around Kosovo has reached a point beyond which a hot stage of the conflict is possible, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said.

"Tensions are rising rapidly, which is a very dangerous trend. I would say that the situation has reached a point beyond which bloodshed or a hot stage of the conflict is possible," the envoy said on Monday during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast.

The Russian diplomat added that the territorial policy of the Kosovo authorities was the main reason for the esclation of the situation in the region. "There are underlying reasons and the desire of Pristina, to take all of Kosovo at all costs, by any means, including Serb-populated areas - both enclaves and the most difficult for Pristina, actually independent, at least in spirit, but also in life, the north of the region," Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said.

The situation in Kosovo escalated sharply when the Kosovo police arrested former Serb policeman Dejan Pantic on December 10. In retaliation, the Serbian population blocked the highway in several locations near the checkpoint with barricades and protested. The Serbs wanted to prevent Pantic from being taken to Pristina. The EU’s EULEX (European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo) and the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) also took patrols to the barricades. Albin Kurti, the prime minister of the unrecognized Kosovo, demanded that the Serbs remove the barricades by Sunday evening. Otherwise, he threatened to launch a Kosovo police operation to remove the barricades with the Kosovo police.

Vucic said on Saturday that the country would send a request to the NATO-led international mission in Kosovo and Metohija (KFOR) to deploy security forces in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.