BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO will strengthen its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo if tensions with Serbia escalate, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday as talks are due to be held Thursday between these two Balkan countries.
“A major mission is underway, and nearly 4,000 of our soldiers are deployed in Kosovo,” Jens Stoltenberg said at a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels.
“We will deploy our forces where necessary and reinforce our presence if necessary. We have already extended our operations in the north, and we are ready to do more,” added the NATO Secretary General.
The Serbian president, for his part, declared that he wanted to avoid any form of escalation in the renewed tension between Belgrade and Pristina.
However, he said he expected difficult talks with Kosovo, saying the two sides were at odds on most issues.
Aleksandar Vucic is due to meet Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Thursday to hold talks under the aegis of the European Union.
The Kosovo Prime Minister, who also spoke with Jens Stoltenberg, underlined Kosovo’s desire to join NATO.
“The threats, the risks, the challenges facing NATO in the current security environment, our country also feels them,” Albin Kurti told reporters, saying the problems were linked to Russia’s influence. .
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo escalated this month after Pristina announced that Serbs residing in the north of the country would have to apply for license plates with Kosovo authorities.
However, the situation calmed down when Albin Kurti, after consultations with European and American officials, announced that the Serbs would have until September 1 to acquire these new license plates.
The approximately 50,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo use license plates and official documents issued by the authorities in Belgrade and refuse to recognize the institutions in Pristina.
Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, a status contested by Serbia.
(Report Benoît Van Overstraeten and John Chalmers, French version by Matthieu Protard and Camille Raynaud, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot and Matthieu Protard)