The Russian Foreign Ministry announced the course of Kosovo to escalate

The authorities of the self-proclaimed Kosovo have taken a course to aggravate the situation in the region with the support of Washington and the European Union, declared Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko in a comment to RIA Novosti.

“We are following the evolution of the situation in and around Kosovo with great concern. We see that the Kosovo “authorities” are heading for escalation, while, obviously for us, they rely on support, open and hidden, from their curators, primarily from the European Union and Washington,” he said.

According to the diplomat, a political settlement of the conflict will require pressure from Western countries on Pristina so that the Kosovo authorities abandon their “militant plans.”

Former Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti urged to strengthen the presence of NATO troops in the republic, which, according to him, will increase security in the region. The prime minister also announced an increase in defense spending and the number of conscripts.

Aggravation of the situation in the north of Kosovo occurred on December 10, when the Pristina authorities detained an ethnic Serb, a former policeman Dejan Pantic. He was suspected of attacking the election commission. In response to the actions of Pristina, the Serbian population began to erect barricades, blocking the passage along the highway in several settlements near the Yarine checkpoint, and went out to protest.

The EU mission in Kosovo (EULEX), as well as members of the NATO-led international security forces in Kosovo and Metohija (KFOR), were pulled to the barricades. The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, demanded that the Kosovo Serbs “immediately remove the barricades.” Due to the aggravation of the situation in the region, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic convened an emergency meeting of the country’s Security Council in response to Kurti’s threats to dismantle the barricades on his own.

On December 26, Vucic ordered the Serbian armed forces to be brought to the highest degree of combat readiness, but already on December 29 he canceled this decision, and on the same day the barricades began to be dismantled. On December 30, the Serbian president said that the escalation of the conflict had been avoided. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation after that declaredthat the compromise between Serbia and Kosovo “can hardly be called sustainable.”