French newspaper: Serbia threatens military intervention if Kosovo forms military

This newspaper quotes Serbian Prime Minister Anna Brnabyq's statement, under which the formation of the Kosovo Army could provoke Serbia's military intervention and that “Belgrade fears such an army could be used for the expulsion of the Serb minority to Kosovo”.

In the article titled “Serbia is threatening to intervene if Kosovo forms the army, the Paris newspaper” stresses that the Kosovo Parliament on December 14th should be clarified about forming defence forces, made up of 4,000 people, in the regular army.

This process may last for years, but Belgrade fears that this army will be used to expel the Serb minority still living in Kosovo”, writes Le Figaro.

In this context, the paper quotes the Serbian chief executive, who hopes” that Serbia will never have to use the army, but that this is actually one of the possibilities to consider, because Belgrade “does not want to participate in this ethnic cleansing”.

The paper recalls that bilateral tensions deteriorated further when Kosovo on November 21st imposed a 100 per cent tax on imports of goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which according to estimates, was a response to Belgrade's pressure against Kosovo's accession to Interpol.

Le Figaro also writes about NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's message about the formation of the Kosovo Army, which said it opposed the advice of many NATO members and that this could have serious consequences for the future of Kosovo's Euro-Atlantic integration.