[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Serbia and Kosovo, the major conflict countries on the Balkan Peninsula, often called the powder keg of Europe, have announced that they will hold a summit under the mediation of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), drawing international attention. NATO has expressed a strong willingness to intervene, stating that if conflicts occur in the Balkans while the war in Ukraine is still ongoing, the security of the entire Eastern Europe could be severely shaken, and additional peacekeeping forces may be deployed to the Kosovo region.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 17th (local time), Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti are scheduled to hold a summit on the 18th under the mediation of the EU and NATO. On that day, the two leaders visited NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and held separate meetings with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The conflict between the two countries has intensified since the end of last month when both sides closed the border and some protests and physical clashes involving ethnic Serbs occurred in the Kosovo area. The Kosovo government demanded ethnic Serbs to change their vehicle license plates to those issued by the Kosovo government starting earlier this month, which led to backlash from the ethnic Serbs and the Serbian government, escalating the dispute.
Kosovo was part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia along with Serbia but declared independence from Serbia in 1998 and fought a decade-long civil war before separating and becoming independent in 2008. About 10,000 people were killed during this process, and the Serbian government still does not officially recognize the Kosovo government.
According to CNN, Kosovo criticizes Serbia for supporting the protests by ethnic Serbs. There are even claims that Serbia, a pro-Russian country, is instigating this conflict to further destabilize security in Eastern Europe, which is already troubled by the war in Ukraine.
NATO is also concerned that if the Kosovo conflict expands amid the prolonged war in Ukraine, the security of the entire Eastern Europe will be severely shaken.
Currently, about 3,700 NATO peacekeeping troops are deployed in Kosovo to prevent clashes between Serbia and Kosovo. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized at a press conference that "if necessary, more peacekeeping forces can be deployed in Kosovo," highlighting the possibility of active intervention.
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