7 hours agoNATO urges Serbia to bring Banjska's group and people who had attacked KFOR in Zvecan to justice
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)NATO continues to ask Serbia's authorities to prosecute all those responsible for acts of violence in Kosovo during 2023. Thus stated an official of the Western military alliance, the day before the start of the NATO summit held at The Hague. “We continue to urge Serbia to secure [...]
Thus stated an official of the Western military alliance, the day before the start of the NATO summit held at The Hague.
“We continue to call on Serbia to ensure that those responsible for the 2023 violence are brought to justice”, the official told reporters.
He cited the attack on members of the NATO mission in Kosovo KFOR, which took place in May 2023 in front of the Zvecan municipality building, as well as the attack on the village of Banjska in September the same year.
According to the official, the Western Balkans remain a <x0 region of strategic importance” for NATO and stay “lart in the alliance's” agenda.
The hard-earned peace deficits should not be endangered. Stability in the region depends on the will of the parties to choose dialogue and co-operation instead of violence. NATO makes significant military contributions, but the road to long-term peace is political”, he stressed.
The official recalled that NATO supports peace and stability in the Balkans since the 1990s and that the dedication of the strong coalition “to “and will not allow the creation of “vacum of security”.
He confirmed NATO's support for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina under the European Union's mediation as the mechanism for resolving open issues, with respect for the rights of all communities.
“We are in close contact with the new EU Special Representative for the dialogue, Peter Sorensen, and we expect both sides to engage with good will”, he said.
He added that KFOR's mission continues to implement its mandate impartially and at any moment.
After the violent events of 2023, we have deployed over 1,000 additional troops in Kosovo and increased KFOR's presence in the north. This was the mission's largest reinforcement in the last decade”, he said.
Two-day summit NATO begins tomorrow in The Hague and is expected to reach the leaders of 32 member states agreement on significant increases in defence investments, increased industrial production in the defence sector, and to confirm the long-term support for Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump, who is believed to be standing only briefly in the summit, has asked the Allies to agree to increasing the protection spending to five percent of the gross domestic product.
