Kosovo's north in the eyes of British media: Vuciq is planning an invasion with the help of his ally Putin

As Telegrafi writes British, before Kosovo police start patrolling the border with Serbia, they load their weapons: AK-47s are stuck in the back of the seats, pistols at the side of the legs, until the trunk of an Land Rover is filled with bulletproof vests.

And this, he says, is now standard protocol on one of the most unstable borders on the European continent.

When people ask Veton Elshan, deputy police commander in northern Kosovo what the situation is like, he simply tells them of the preparations he is making for patrol.

The “looks at weapons? The situation is not good”.

British media note the rise in recent tensions between the Serb minority and the Albanian majority.

Fear of a new conflict increased especially in 2023 when a group of armed Serbs invaded the village of Banjska in the north and were barricaded in the monastery. Three of the 30 people suspected of being there were killed by the shooting. While a Kosovo policeman lost his life.

Since that day, Kosovo police have increased border patrols as Serbs block the tendency to act illegally.

We know these roads better than anyone, said Commander Elshani about The Telegraph as the patrol passed through the mountains. “Serbs can't go a way we won't find”

Police have identified 65 illegal roads, and all are blocked, another 10 roads are kept under constant surveillance, mainly with fears.

Permanent presence in the Serb majority region sent message to Belgrade that Kosovo is defending its borders, Commander Elshani said.

“Spa changed the game,” he said. When blood is spilled, then it's problem”

Analysts warn that Kremlin propaganda is sparking unrest in the country's north, where 93 per cent are Albanians and 4 per cent are Serbs.

Most Serbs in Kosovo still consider Belgrade, which has never recognised Kosovo's independence, as their institutional centre.

Kosovo police, following the Banjska case, discovered a large quantity of weapons the attackers had concealed in abandoned buildings around the northern villages.

Just weeks ago, they found five other rocket launchers, a sign of the planned attack rate.

In an interview for Telegrafi, Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti has warned that Serbia's President Vuciq is planning an invasion.

He said Serbia built operational bases forward around the border at a “pathcoi” to protect Belgrade and attack Kosovo”.

A Distraction From War in Ukraine

Based on President Vucic's own words, Kurti believes Serbia's president is awaiting an opportunity to conquer.

Vuciqi's friendship with Vladimir Putin is well known, and Kurti believes it is in the interest of the Russian leader for Serbia to invade Kosovo, because it would draw attention from his war in Ukraine.

The Mitrovica Bridge over the Iber River has been a hot “hot spot” an informal division between Kosovo's northern border region and the ethnically Albanian south.

Things look peaceful as pedestrians walk freely between the two sides.

But there's a current under pressure.

Some ethnic Serbs from the north see anyone going south as a traitor.

Cars are still not allowed to cross the bridge, and two El Rover police officers are constantly present, one looking south and the other north.

Police said these precautions are necessary to preserve stability in the area.

While traveling north of Kosovo, Telegraph journalists saw inscriptions with the letter “Z”, a symbol of support for Russian forces in the field of Ukrainian battle.

Kosovo's “Veriu is one point from which Putin will recruit future members of paramilitary groups for operations in Ukraine and in the Balkans”, Kurti claims. /Telegrapher