Türkiye is a serious energy with important political and financial affect within the Western Balkans, Serbia‘s protection minister has mentioned, including that the nation views the Kosovo challenge in solely other ways as a result of any battle with Ankara wouldn’t be of their nationwide pursuits.
Milos Vucevic made the remarks in an interview with Serbian public broadcaster RTS on Monday, a day after Kosovo, which borders Serbia on the south and west, acquired Turkish unmanned aerial autos (UAVs) often known as Bayraktar TB2.
“Türkiye is a big country, a power, and has significant political and economic influence in the Western Balkans, and we have to make sure we have the best possible relations with Türkiye. But we look at Kosovo in completely different ways. It’s interesting that their military barracks in Prizren are named after Sultan Murat, which is a strong association for all of us in this region,” Vucevic mentioned.
The Kosovo Security Forces acquired 5 Bayraktar TB2 drones in early May when the most important worldwide train, Defender Europe 23, started.
In April, Kosovo Serbs boycotted extraordinary native authorities elections for 4 municipalities within the nation’s north, with solely 3.47% of eligible voters casting ballots.
In late May, tensions erupted in Kosovo when Serb protesters tried to forestall newly elected Albanian mayors from getting into three municipal buildings, prompting police to fireplace tear gasoline shells to disperse them.
Later, Serbia ordered its military to advance to the border with Kosovo and urged NATO to “stop the violence against local Serbs in Kosovo.”
On May 30, after 30 troopers had been injured throughout unrest within the area, NATO despatched 700 extra troops to the Kosovo Force (KFOR), the alliance-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. Turkish forces had been among the many reinforcements.
Around 500 further Turkish troopers arrived in June amid Serb protests in opposition to the election of Albanian mayors in northern municipalities with a big ethnic Serb inhabitants, and have been stationed at Camp Sultan Murat, close to the capital Pristina.
Turkish troopers serving as a part of a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo are contributing to regional peace and safety.
Vucevic mentioned within the interview that the brand new KFOR commander will a Turkish normal for the primary time in historical past.
According to the most recent official NATO knowledge, 780 of the 4,511 KFOR troopers are from Türkiye, whereas 679 are from the US, and estimates point out that the variety of Turkish contingents in KFOR might attain a thousand members by the tip of the yr.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
