Contents tagged with Kosovo

  • Russia to send air defense missile systems to Serbia amid escalation on Kosovo border

    Russia will deploy air defense forces to Serbia for joint military exercises, which will be held in October amid the escalation in Kosovo.

     TASS reports, citing a source in Russian military circles, that the Russian Defense Ministry will send to Serbia Pantsir missile systems, which will take part in the Slavic Shield-2021 exercises.

    The maneuvers are scheduled for mid-October.

    On Sunday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gave the order to bring the army to increased combat readiness due to …

  • Kremlin: Kosovo army is a serious security threat to Balkans

    The plans to create a Kosovo army, supported by the leading NATO states, seriously endanger the security of the Balkan region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on January 17 during a press conference on the results of Russian diplomatic activity in 2019.

    The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that these plans are a gross violation of UN Security Council resolution 1244, which demands the demilitarization of any armed groups of Kosovan Albanians.

    “Many times we have drawn and will continue to …

  • Double agent of Ukrainian Security Service evacuated from DPR

    A double agent recruited by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) who worked in the Military Prosecution Office of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has been evacuated from the occupied territory, the Ukrainian Military Portal reports, citing materials from the Facts of the Week program.

    The double agent Serhiy Lukyanenko had already provided the SBU with important information about Ukrainian hostages and the presence of Russian military personnel in the temporarily occupied territory. …

  • Putin replaces Russian Ambassador to Serbia

    Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order appointing Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko as Russia's Ambassador to Serbia. The document was published on the Internet portal of legal information.

    Botsan-Kharchenko is a MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations) graduate, and he has worked in the structures of the European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the 2000s and, in particular, was a representative of Russia in the International Negotiating Commission to Kosovo. …

  • Leader of Kosovo: Serbia is a mini-Russia in the Balkans

    Pristina will maintain the 100% tariffs on goods from Serbia until Belgrade decides to recognize its independence, promised Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj. 

    During a press conference on the results of 2018, Haradinaj called Serbia a “small Russia in the Balkans” and urged it to change its policy to comply with European and American standards. 

    “If Serbia does not change, the tariffs will remain forever. If Serbia wants to reach an agreement on mutual recognition and acts in accordance …

  • Kremlin: creation of Kosovo army is a threat to stability in the region

    The decision of the Kosovo’s Parliament to transform Security Forces of the partially recognized Republic into a fully-fledged army is a violation of the Resolution of the UN Security Council and can lead to armed conflict, stated the Russian Foreign Ministry.

     “This step has become a blatant violation of Resolution 1224 of the UN Security Council aimed at a serious escalation of the situation in the Balkans, fraught with armed conflict in the region,”  said the Russian Foreign Ministry. …

  • Representatives of Serbia and Kosovo meet in Minsk

    The meeting of the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić and the leader of the Kosovo separatists, Hashim Thaçi took place on October 31 in Minsk, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Vladimir Makei told journalists as quoted by BelTA news agency. 

    According to the Foreign Minister of Belarus, during the discussion devoted to the relations between Serbia and Kosovo, representatives of both sides frequently used the words “dialogue” and “compromise”.

    “Even this makes this meeting …

  • Russia condemns deployment of Kosovo’s Special Forces to Serbian border

    The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Kosovo’s “demonstrative invasion” to the north the region inhabited by Serbs as provocation. The purpose of this provocation is “to intimidate Kosovo Serbs and exert pressure on Serbia”, said Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Zakharova said that Russia condemns “the passive behavior of the International Forces for Kosovo (KFOR), which have not taken any action”. She noted that these forces must ensure …

  • Serbian President intends to discuss situation in Kosovo with Putin on October 2

    At a press conference, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that he plans to discuss the situation in Kosovo at the coming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and ask for his support.  

    "Today, we have notified the ambassador of the Russian Federation, as well as the US ambassador and others of the situation. In two days, I will be meeting with President Putin. We will be speaking about important issues for Serbia, therefore the situation in Kosovo and Metohija will definitely be …

  • Serbia shuts down Russian 'military patriotic' youth camp

    Police in Serbia stopped the activities of the “military and patriotic youth camps that was create by Russian and Serbian ‘patriotic’ veteran organizations,” reported Blic news outlet.  “The camp on Zlatibor no longer exists,” Serbian Minister of Interior Nebojša Stefanović stated. 

    The Minister said that he ordered the camp eliminated because of public concern and possible child abuse. He added that the Serbian authorities were in the final stages of dismantling the camp.

    The camp’s closure …