Stradner: Situation in Kosovo is bad, may have escalation

Adviser at the Foundation for the Protection of Democracy, Ivana Stradner, has spoken about the situation in Kosovo following the attack on Banjska.

Stradner in an interview for the Montenegrin newspaper Pobjeda has said the situation is very bad and that more escalations can be expected.

She has also spoken about the situation in the region, elections in Serbia and tensions in the Western Balkans.

The Western Balkans are far from the priorities of Brussels, and especially Washington. They view the region exclusively through the prism of geopolitical circumstances. There are no concrete strategies for the region, except to do anything to prevent the escalation of the situation. That is where Vucin's policy of contempt and unenraged concessions comes from. This is not only a policy towards the Balkans, but also Russia, China, Iran and so on. So nobody should be surprised. It is positive that after the recent escalation in Kosovo and Banjska, the West has opened its eyes and sees more today than before, but that is not enough. With Moscow's support, Vucic will continue to scale up this is strategically important to him, because by bringing the region to the brink of war and fearing the West, it allows him to use the situation as a shopping tool”, she said.

On the other hand, Moscow does not need to bring aircraft and tanks to the region. It is enough to continue with these types of escalation in the gray zone and a little below the threshold of war to cause no reaction from the West. This hybrid war includes information operations that create a favorable climate for the escalation of paramilitary activities. I often hear Vucinqi is not allowed to go to war with NATO and that this is only his blog. It should be remembered that a few months ago at least 30 members of NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo were injured. What did NATO do? Nothing, except he wrote he was very worried. It is the greatest gift for Putin, who is trying to show that NATO is nothing more than a “tier paper” and will do nothing. Currently, Russia does not have the strength to attack Poland or another NATO country in the neighbourhood. But NATO's weakest link is in the Western Balkan region. Putin has no strategic ambitions to conquer the Balkans. He needs the region in order to use chaos in the region to blackmail the West because if Brussels or Washington do not want chaos, they must negotiate with him”, Stradner stressed.

“Situates in the region remind me of the chaos between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Currently, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo is very bad and further escalations can be expected. Can this result in a war we saw in the '90s? I don't know. But that is not necessary today to achieve the other goals of Moscow and Belgrade. The war in the grey zone, which is just below the threshold of armed conflict, is key to the Balkans and Putin and Vuciq well know this”, she said.