Kosovo Serbia TensionsHeavy vehicles remain parked by local Serbs block the road in the village of Rudare, in northern Kosovo on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. Barricades erected
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew during the past week after Serbs erected barricades on the main roads in the north of Kosovo, a former Serbian province. They were protesting the arrest of a former Kosovo Serb police officer.
Shots were fired from the barricades, and a Kosovo Albanian police officer was injured. Someone lobbed a stun grenade at a European Union peacekeeping patrol mission. Serbia raised its combat readiness and warned it would not stand by if Serbs in Kosovo are attacked.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called for deploying Serb troops to northern Kosovo, further fueling fears of a revival of the 1998-99 war in Kosovo that claimed more than 10,000 lives and left over 1 million homeless.
A look at the history between Serbia and Kosovo, and why the latest tensions are a concern for Europe.
WHY ARE SERBIA AND KOSOVO AT ODDS?
Kosovo is a mainly ethnic Albanian territory that declared independence from Serbia in 2008. The Serbian government has refused to recognize Kosovo’s statehood and still considers it part of Serbia, even though it has no formal control there.
Over 100 countries have recognized Kosovo’s independence, including the United States and most Western countries. Russia, China and five European Union nations have sided with Serbia. The deadlock has kept tensions simmering and prevented the Balkan region's full stabilization following the bloody breakup of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
HOW DEEP IS THE CONFLICT?
The dispute over Kosovo is centuries-old. Serbia cherishes the region as the heart of its statehood and religion. Numerous medieval Serb Orthodox Christian monasteries are in Kosovo. Serb nationalists view a 1389 battle against Ottoman Turks there as a symbol of its national struggle.
Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians, most of whom are Muslim, view Kosovo as their country and accuse Serbia of occupation and repression. Ethnic Albanian rebels launched a rebellion in 1998 to rid the country of Serbian rule. Belgrade’s brutal response prompted a NATO intervention in 1999, which forced Serbia to pull out and cede control to international peacekeepers.