Russia “closely follows” the tense situation in Kosovo and blames local authorities

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Monday it was closely monitoring what it called a “potentially dangerous” situation in Kosovo, where ethnic Serb gunmen attacked a town on the weekend, fighting the police and barricade themselves in a monastery.

Russia does not recognize kosovowhich has a majority ethnic Albanian population, is an independent country and traditionally supports Serbia, with which it maintains close religious and cultural ties.

“The situation is extremely difficult. In Kosovo, we see a traditionally partial attitude towards the Serbs… The situation is very, very tense and potentially dangerous, we are following it very closely,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a regular press conference. .

Kosovo police units retook the monastery on Sunday night after three attackers and a police officer were killed. On Monday they were securing the village in northern Kosovo.

Ethnic Albanians make up the vast majority of the 1.8 million people of Kosovo, a former province of Serbia.

But some 50,000 northern Serbs never accepted the 2008 Kosovo accords. Declaration of Independence and they still see Belgrade as their capital, more than two decades after a Kosovo Albanian guerrilla uprising against the repressive Serbian government.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry later issued a statement saying Sunday’s bloodshed was “a direct and immediate consequence of the course” of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, which it said aimed to “fuel the conflict and cleanse the territory of the province from the Serbs.”

The ministry said Kurti was trying to aggravate the situation to increase pressure on the Serbs to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

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