Ivana Stradner, an analyst on Balkan affairs, recently warned that the Serbian government is gearing up for a new escalation in the Balkans.
She stated that the threat of a potential escalation in northern Kosovo “is substantial and real.”
“In fact, it is the Serbian government that is preparing for a new escalation in the Balkans, and this year, U.S. intelligence warned of new escalations in the region,” Stradner emphasized.
Kurt Bassuener, from the international organization Council for Democratization Policy in Berlin, echoed this sentiment.
Speaking to the newspaper Bota Sot, the German expert said that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić could always provoke an escalation in Kosovo.
“Certainly, Kosovo is always a front where Vučić can provoke escalation,” the analyst noted.
According to him, Vučić is testing the limits of the West.
“I believe Vučić is testing how much humiliation and degradation the West can tolerate, as evidenced by the circus at the UN General Assembly against the Srebrenica resolution, the indulgence agreements for lithium that the EU and Germany made with Serbia, his unpunished electoral fraud, and the ongoing escalation with Republika Srpska and the push in Montenegro,” Kurt Bassuener stated.
Retired American General Wesley Clark also confirmed that Serbia aims to take the northern part of Kosovo and divide Bosnia and Herzegovina to create a “Greater Serbia.”
In a joint interview with Prime Minister Albin Kurti on CNN, Clark said that Serbia is Russia’s proxy in the Western Balkans.
“Serbia is Russia’s hand in the Balkans and serves Russia’s interests. Vučić is cunning, he wants to appear as if he’s playing both sides, but when the time comes, he will do what Putin wants him to do,” he said.
“We’ve seen a lot of violence and killings over the past 30 years, and we thought NATO had put a stop to it. But if there are problems in Ukraine, that problem will come to the Balkans, and leaders like Prime Minister Kurti will have to deal with it,” Clark added.
Both local and international officials have previously accused Serbia of helping Russia open a new front against the West.
Serbia, which maintains good relations with Russia, has so far refused to impose sanctions on Moscow due to the war in Ukraine.
