Kurt plants panic among people: Britain must send more troops to protect us from Serbian invasion

Britain must send more troops to Kosovo to prevent the war in the Western Balkans, Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said.

There is only a <x0mbolic” presence in the country and it would not be enough to prevent an invasion from Serbia, Albin Kurti told “The Telegraph” in an interview in his office in Pristina.

The prime minister's remarks came after Aleksandar Vuciq, the president of Serbia, hinted of an attempt to regain Kosovo earlier this week, saying Belgrade would expect the best possible moment, and we would use our option”.

Asked whether Britain should increase its military presence in the region, Kurti said, the United Kingdom is part of NATO and they act and operate that way. I believe there must be more NATO troops in Kosovo”.

NATO has 4,000 troops on the ground in Kosovo, but Kurti said his country “can be even better protected” and that “NATO can and should engage more in Kosovo both militarily and politically” due to the threat from Belgrade.

Kurti said he had asked Brussels for more troops in Kosovo “several times”, including prior to Ukraine's full invasion by Vdalmir Putin in February 2022 and again last year, when Serb armed persons attacked police in the country's north, killing four.

About 200 British troops were deployed in the region following the attack in an effort to reduce tensions, joining 400 British troops currently stationed there. These extra bodies have been gone ever since.

At the time of violence, Alicia Kearns, chairman of the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Committee, accused the West of failing to protect Kosovo from Serb and Russian aggression and asked the government to ensure that we do not adopt a Belgrade-based policy for the Balkans”.

The governments of the United States and Britain had accused Kurti of fuelling tensions by sending Albanian mayors to Kosovo's majority-Serb border regions.

Analysts have warned that Kremlin propaganda is sparking unrest in the north in a nation where 93 per cent are Albanians and 4 per cent are Serbs.

Russia's allied Serbia

Serbia is a traditional Moscow ally and has refused to sanction Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Today, 45 British troops are involved in NATO's 4443-strong contingent in Kosovo. By comparison, Hungary has 365 troops, America 572 and Italy 1322. Kurti acknowledged that while the presence of troops was “substantiial” in the predominantly ethnic-Serb north, it had generally not grown “too” and was “generally symbolic”.

Kurti showed air images for the “The Telegraph” describing 41 military barracks in Serbia, which he claimed were strategically positioned to protect Belgrade and attack Kosovo”.

Another image showed 48 Serbian operational bases stationed along the 381km border that shares Kosovo. Of the bases, 28 are believed to be military and 20 gendarmerie, with the number of people in each of 50 and 150.

He pointed out the <x0mal>” terrain of his country, which makes it difficult to protect, as well as 16 illegal routes that Serbs have used for smuggling ammunition and military equipment into Serb majority areas, which have since been closed, broadcast Klankosova.tv.

Kurti described 48 bases as “patqua” in the form of ʹ a form in line with what appeared within Kosovo during the war 25 years ago.

They [Serbia] are waiting for a window of opportunity to attack us”, he said.

He described the horses as “disturbing” because of the proximity of Serb forces to the border.

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Kurti's greatest concern as Kosovo leader is Vuciqi, whom he described as the “Putin e Vogel” due to his friendship with the Russian president.

He said that “was no wonder” that in December last year Vuciqi showed public admiration for Ilham Aliyevin, the president of Azerbaijan, when he took over the controversial Nagorno-Karabakh region by Armenian forces, given his ambition to invade Kosovo.

Because of the threat Serbia is presenting to us and due to numerous links to the Kremlin, to have more capacity and capabilities for our army and police and more NATO troops would increase the security of our country and the region”, Kurti stressed.

“I believe as long as Serbia does not recognise Kosovo, as Serbia maintains 48 offensive operational bases around our country and as long as Serbia is a close ally of the Kremlin, it should have more capacities on our side and more NATO troops”.

Kosovo already spends more than 2 percent of its GDP on defence, meeting NATO's goal that many member states do not.

Kurti was imprisoned in the 1990s

Kurti was imprisoned and tortured as an activist student, campaigning against Kosovo Serb rule in the 1990s.

He said he remembered his time well at the Lipjan prison in Pristina, where he was forced to live and do shit in a small room with 13 other prisoners of war. He recalls the exact hour of the day that men treated a piece of bread, how the beatings they received were so brutal, the prisoners regularly lost feelings and how he learned to sleep sitting because there was no room to lie down, broadcast Klankosova.tv.

At the time of his imprisonment, Vuciqi was in power as Serbian information minister.

“He is still in power and I became prime minister, but I have no hatred for Serbs”, he said.

However, I wish Serbia would change its attitude and approach to Kosovo for normalisation of relations. I believe in justice without revenge. I don't believe in revenge. If there's revenge there can't be justice”

Responding to Kurti's comments, a British Defence Ministry spokesman said: “The United Kingdom continues to provide active support for Kosovo's sovereignty and independence, and we are playing a vital role in preserving stability in the Western Balkans”.

The “UK troops are currently deployed as part of NATO's 4,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. The mission contributes to preserving a safe environment and for freedom of movement for all communities in Kosovo”.