NATO 'prepared to intervene' amid rising tensions between Kosovo and Serbia
NATO has said that it is prepared to intervene amid rising tensions between Kosovo and Serbia in a region where British troops are deployed as part of the allied international peacekeeping force.
About 40 personnel from 4th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland are currently deployed in Kosovo as part of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) – a NATO mission made up of international troops.
Air raid sirens can be heard ringing out along the Kosovo-Serbian border as tensions in the region rise once again, 14 years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a military campaign by NATO to push back Serb forces from the former province.
Serbia and its allies such as Russia and China have long refused to recognise Kosovo's independence, despite more than a hundred countries recognising Kosovo as an independent state.
Relations have been further soured over a new law making it compulsory for everyone, including Serbs living in Kosovo, to have a Kosovo ID card and car number plate.
It has been 20 years since the former Yugoslav territories were at the centre of one of Europe's most violent conflicts but the two sides are still at odds.
Kosovo is a mainly ethnic Albanian territory that was formerly a province in Serbia.
Jonathan Eyal, associate director at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the defence and security think tank, spoke to Forces News and says he believes the tensions in the Kosovo region would be "music to the ears" of the Russian authorities.
"The idea that you will have a flare-up in the area of the Balkans, where there is still western troops and NATO troops there, just as we are dealing with a war in Ukraine is, of course, music to the ears of the authorities in Moscow," Mr Eyal said.
"That's not only because it would divert attention from Ukraine but also because it is the southeastern part of the Balkans... those which are without membership in either NATO or the European Union, and therefore they remain very much the 'wild east'."
British forces have played a key role throughout the Balkan region since the early 1990s when the break-up of the former Yugoslavia resulted in a series of separate conflicts.
Today, British troops remain part of KFOR in the region where the personnel of the 4th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for the mission.
Britain also provides a Battalion-sized strategic reserve force based in the UK that can move at relatively short notice, with a commitment by the UK to be part of the KFOR mission until 2023.
The UK underlined its commitment to the KFOR mission in Kosovo when it was announced last year that contributions would be extended until 2023.
Britain has been part of the NATO mission for more than two decades, helping to maintain peace and stability.
Meanwhile, Ethnic Serbs have created roadblocks and reportedly fired at police officers in response to the Kosovan government's new rules over number plates.
NATO has described the situation as 'tense' and says it is prepared to intervene if 'stability is jeopardised'.
Kosovo has also postponed the introduction of its new rules for a month.
Cover image: Italian peacekeepers were visible in and around Mitrovica amid rising tensions on the Kosovo border (Picture: Reuters).
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