The Russian Ambassador to Serbia compared the situation in Kosovo with the pogroms of 2004

The current situation in Kosovo is similar to the situation in the province in 2004. This was stated by Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko.

In 2004, there were riots in Kosovo. Serbia regarded them as ethnic cleansing. During the unrest, 16 people were killed, 4,000 became refugees. In addition, 800 houses and 36 Orthodox churches were destroyed or damaged. Before that tragedy in Belgrade, as now, they asked for the deployment of the Serbian police and the army of Kosovo. Serbia refused.

“Realizing the increased tension and anti-Serbian sentiment in Kosovo until 2004, and realizing that things could end badly, the Serbs then made the same request and, of course, were refused by NATO. It was said that there was no such need, they say,” , Botsan-Kharchenko noted in an interview with “News”.

The West did not interfere with the pogroms, but regarded the incident as a pretext for starting negotiations on the final status of Kosovo.

The diplomat added that this time again, NATO would consider it unnecessary to deploy military and police forces from Serbia in Kosovo.

Earlier, Botan-Kharchenko said that the West consigned to oblivion the UN Security Council resolution on Kosovo.

Aggravation of the situation in Kosovo

The situation in the northern part of Kosovo and Metohija escalated sharply after new measures taken by the Kosovo Albanian authorities. They demanded from local Serbs to re-register Serbian license plates and personal documents from November 1, and at the end of the month they began to fine drivers with “wrong” signs. According to Belgrade, in such ways Pristina is trying to expel ethnic Serbs from these territories.

Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic has announced that the army has been put on high alert. On December 8, about 350 police officers from Kosovo entered the city of Kosovska Mitrovica, although law enforcement officers had to obtain the consent of local authorities if they followed the Brussels agreements.

Serb protests began on December 10 – they erected barricades on the highways, and Serbia was about to send a request for the deployment of security forces in the north of Kosovo under resolution 1244.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, in an address due to the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, called on Serbs and Albanians to keep the peace. Vučić convened a national security council because of threats from the authorities of the unrecognized Kosovo to forcefully remove the Kosovo Serb barricades in the north of the unrecognized republic. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Russia would continue to consider Kosovo as part of Serbia.