Kosovo - December 2022

Following the resignation of Serb judges, mayors and police officers in Kosovo over the government’s decision to ban Serbian-issued license plates, Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani announced local elections in Serbian-populated areas. In response, Serbs in northern Kosovo set up multiple roadblocks. The president eventually postponed the elections to April 2023 over security concerns, but roadblocks remained. The situation was further exacerbated by the arrest of a former Serb police officer in Kosovo who was suspected of attacking the municipal election commission offices. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić warned that he planned to request NATO’s permission to deploy Serbian troops in northern Kosovo. The Serbian army was put on the highest combat alert and Narodne Patrole, a far-right Serbian nationalist organization, also gathered on the Serbia-Kosovo border. Kosovo closed its biggest border crossing point with Serbia. For more than two weeks, Kosovo saw a tense security situation marked by the presence of masked armed men, explosions, shootings and attacks on police officers, journalists, EULEX and the NATO-led Force (KFOR) in the Serbian-populated areas in the northern part of the country. Following the intervention of international stakeholders, roadblocks started being dismantled on 29 December, and the closed border points were reopened.

Sources: DW, Prishtina Insight, Associated Press (1), Associated Press (2) Balkan Insight (1), Balkan Insight (2) Euractiv (1), Euractiv (2), RFERL, The Guardian, EUobserver