German Press: Status too dangerous in Kosovo

German newspapers report news of a bloody clash between several armed suspects and Kosovo police. It is estimated that this is the culmination of tension in recent months and the worst conflict in recent years.

After the murder of a Kosovo police officer by masked bandits in northern Kosovo, a new escalation threatens after several peaceful weeks”, writes Frankfurter Allgemen Zeitung.

The paper cites what is known for the exchange of fire in the vicinity of Banjska in northern Kosovo, as well as the assessment of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti that it was “terrorism”.

The paper appeared in the press prior to Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq's press conference.

The “Atmosphere in northern Kosovo, which is mainly inhabited by Serbs, was already tense again after last Wednesday Kosovo police arrested three Serbs who are charged with war crimes against Albanian civilians”, the Frankfurt newspaper recalls.

The arrests led to a strong response from Serbian authorities”, it adds, and Vuciq has reportedly accused Pristina of arresting innocent people on ethnic grounds and called for reaction from the international community.

“Now a Kosovo diplomat has estimated that a link between those arrests and armed assault on police several days later” can be imagined, the Frankfurter Allgeene Zeitung report concludes.

While the Swiss newspaper Noye Zircher Zeitung estimates that the conflict in northern Kosovo “has achieved a new dangerous scale of escalation”.

She welcomed Vuciki's conference and stressed: “It is not surprising that Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq transferred responsibility to the Kosovo side Sunday evening. He does not want to justify the murder, Vuciq said, but the Serb population is protesting because they can no longer endure the terror of Kurti”.

Cyril's newspaper recalls conflicts in the north, boycott of elections, arrests, EU efforts and pressures to mediate, especially after Russian aggression began in Ukraine. Despite agreements from Brussels and Ohrid this year, however, nothing has changed.

The implementation of the plan does not move from a deadlock, and because Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti and Serbian President Vuciq foster deep distrust of each other”, the paper writes, and recalls that Kurti has particularly been under pressure recently because he does not want to. to initiate the formation of the Union of Serbian municipalities.

He has written about the conflict at Kiln StaatAzeiger with the title: “The armed groups penetrated Kosovo”. Sunday's events are seen as the most serious “incidents in tense relations between Kosovo and Serbia in recent years”.

Tabloid Bild has written for “terrorist attack” on his portal. “If the situation continues to escalate this way, then it is a new dimension of violence from the Western Balkans”.