The US on Tuesday said that it was suspending Kosovo from a military exercise in its first sanction over a decision to install ethnic Albanian mayors that sent tensions soaring with the Serb minority.
Western powers that have historically supported Kosovo have urged de-escalation after the move on the mayors, which led to clashes with ethnic Serbs in which 30 NATO-led peacekeepers were injured on Monday.
US Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier said that Kosovo was being expelled from Defender 23, an exercise from April through this month that included more than 20 countries.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“For Kosovo, this exercise is over,” Hovenier said in comments to local media in Pristina.
The US led the NATO operation that forced Serb forces out of Kosovo in 1999 and it has since championed the Albanian-majority territory, backing its 2008 declaration of independence that Belgrade adamantly rejects.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a new statement again criticized Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti for the decision on the mayors, saying it “sharply and unnecessarily escalated tensions.”
“We call on all parties to take immediate actions to de-escalate tensions,” Blinken said in a statement, condemning the “unacceptable violence” against peacekeepers.
Hovenier threatened an unprecedented move to end diplomatic support and stop lobbying for international recognition of the tiny Balkan territory, whose independence is also opposed by Russia, China and a few European nations.
“You don’t find a lot of enthusiasm on the part of the United States to respond to Kosovo’s other interests, such as engaging in non-recognizers or working actively to advance Kosovo’s European or Euro-Atlantic trajectory,” Hovenier said.
The US ambassador added that “the actions taken by the government of Kosovo ... have created this crisis atmosphere in the north.”
“We have asked Prime Minister Kurti very directly to take immediate steps to achieve de-escalation in the north. He has not been responsive to those requests,” Hovenier said.
The clashes in north Kosovo erupted when the government in Pristina used its police force to try to install ethnic Albanian mayors in northern towns where Serbs make up the majority. Serbs had boycotted local elections.
The situation spiraled out of control after Serbs tried to force their way into a town hall in the northern town of Zvecan, but were repelled by Kosovo police firing tear gas.
The NATO-led peacekeeping force (KFOR) tried to disperse the most violent among the crowd by using shields and batons, but were met by a hail of rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails.
A total of 30 peacekeepers — 11 Italians and 19 Hungarians — were wounded in the clashes, KFOR said.
Among the protesters, 52 were injured, three of them “seriously,” while five Serbs were arrested for taking part in the clashes.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) greetings with what appeared to be restrained rhetoric that comes as Pyongyang moves closer to Russia and depends less on its long-time Asian ally. Kim wished “the Chinese people greater success in building a modern socialist country,” in a reply message to Xi for his congratulations on North Korea’s birthday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. The 190-word dispatch had little of the florid language that had been a staple of their correspondence, which has declined significantly this year, an analysis by Seoul-based specialist service NK Pro showed. It said
On an island of windswept tundra in the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles from mainland Alaska, a resident sitting outside their home saw — well, did they see it? They were pretty sure they saw it — a rat. The purported sighting would not have gotten attention in many places around the world, but it caused a stir on Saint Paul Island, which is part of the Pribilof Islands, a birding haven sometimes called the “Galapagos of the north” for its diversity of life. That is because rats that stow away on vessels can quickly populate and overrun remote islands, devastating bird
‘CLOSER TO THE END’: The Ukrainian leader said in an interview that only from a ‘strong position’ can Ukraine push Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘to stop the war’ Decisive actions by the US now could hasten the end of the Russian war against Ukraine next year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday after telling ABC News that his nation was “closer to the end of the war.” “Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,” Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram after meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress. “Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year,” he wrote. Zelenskiy is in the US for the UN
A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with Swiss police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested. The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border. The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country, but assisted dying has been legal for decades. On the same day it was used, Swiss Department of Home