Albania's Rama: NATO needs to re-establish control of northern Kosovo

“NATO should reestablish control of northern Kosovo or face continuing violence between ethnic Serbs and Albanians in the region,” the Albanian Prime Minister told the FT.

Rama, whose country is a member of the NATO alliance, spoke to the Financial Times following clashes in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo in which at least four people were killed, including a Kosovo police officer.

“Kosovo is a hotspot. It has become over the years a no-man’s-land where all kinds of crime combine with rising nationalism. The border between crime and politics has been blurred,” said Rama.

NATO said it would deploy as many peacekeeping troops as were needed to stabilise the situation, with Germany and the UK already pledging hundreds of soldiers on top of the existing 4,500-strong force to keep the region under control, noted the British daily, adding that both Kosovo and Serbian leaders have also called on NATO to step up its presence and quell tensions.

Rama advocated for a “high-level conference” involving the leaders of France and Germany and re-engaging the US.

“That is the best

way] to get out of this never-ending madness,” said the Albanian leader who had already drawn attention to the deteriorating security situation in Kosovo during a NATO summit in July.

The goal, he said, was “full recognition of Kosovo in the EU and in the United Nations.”

“It’s not easy to change the course of history, that requires leadership. But if France and Germany could do it

after the Second World War], if Saudi Arabia and Israel can do it, then we know it can happen,” said the Albanian Prime Minister.

Rama for a long time refrained from getting involved in the Kosovo conflict, instead building cordial ties with Belgrade as he sought to make progress on the EU membership path for the western Balkans. But given the rising security threat not just to Albanians in Kosovo but also to the region as a whole, Rama said he had to call a spade a spade, the FT reported.

“Instability in the western Balkans serves Moscow’s interests,” Rama said.

Russia has long backed Serbia and has not recognised Kosovo’s independence. After Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine last year, Belgrade resisted western calls to impose sanctions on Russia.

“The Kremlin would also crave to see a little Donbas in Kosovo and set up a fire of separatism in the middle of Europe,” Rama said.

While he offered no evidence of Russian involvement in the recent flare-up in tensions, he said the Kremlin’s meddling was “the simplest deduction you can make.”

“They do this all over the world, from Africa to the Middle East, so of course they will try in Europe . . . Kosovo has also been a

tool] for Russians,” said the Albanian Prime Minister.