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The United States has concluded that a weekend attack by suspected Serbian militia in northern Kosovo, leaving one officer and three gunmen dead, was intended to destabilize the region and is warning of potential further escalation between the longtime enemies.
“We know it was coordinated and sophisticated,” U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey M. Hovenier told POLITICO, adding the gunmen appeared to have had military training. “The quantity of weapons suggests this was serious, with a plan to destabilize security in the region.”
Kosovo police said a group of about 30 heavily armed Serbs ambushed a police patrol early Sunday, killing one officer and injuring another, before fleeing and taking refuge in a nearby Orthodox monastery. The three gunmen were killed in an ensuing shootout with police and two were arrested. Most of the Serbian gunmen managed to sneak out of the monastery and escape on foot, Kosovo authorities said.
Western officials said the incident reflected heightened geopolitical strains in the Balkans, as Russia, frustrated by Europe’s strong support for Ukraine, tries to use its sway with allies in Serbia and elsewhere to stoke tensions, particularly in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Hovenier said the U.S. had yet to determine whether Serbia was responsible for the ambush, as Kosovo alleges, but he said the gear seized by the authorities, which included missile launchers, mines, and an armored personnel carrier, was of “military grade not available to the average citizen.” He said the U.S. had no reason to doubt that weapons and other equipment presented by Kosovo police at a press conference on Monday were not those found at the scene.
“The people we hold the most accountable are the people who fired upon the Kosovo police officer,” Hovenier said.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić denied Belgrade was involved in the attack, insisting it was the work of local Kosovo Serbs provoked by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who has increased policing in the disputed region in recent months.
It’s unclear whether the gunmen sought the confrontation with Kosovo police on Sunday or were planning a longer-term operation and happened to run across a Kosovo police squad, western officials said.
The EU and U.S. have tried for years to broker a lasting peace between Serbia and Kosovo but a deal remained elusive amid continued divisions over the status of northern Kosovo, where a majority of the population is Serbian.
Belgrade continues to regard Kosovo as a breakaway province. The country declared independence in 2008, nearly a decade after a NATO bombing campaign forced Serbian forces to withdraw from the region.
During the war about 10,000 people were killed in Kosovo, which is more than 90 percent ethnically Albanian.
Despite the deep distrust between the two sides, Hovenier said Western efforts to achieve peace must continue.
Calling the incident “extremely unfortunate,” he said he hoped it would “provide incentives in both Belgrade and Pristina to pursue good neighborly relations.”
