Russian FM warns NATO, EU mission not to use force against Serbs in Kosovo

The Russians seem to be trying to provoke a run on the border between Kosovo and Serbia. Warning the Kosovar Serbs that NATO might block their escape will inevitably increase those seeking to escape.
That can only serve a plan to start a guerrilla war.
International Herald Tribune

Russia's foreign minister claimed in remarks broadcast Monday that NATO and the EU have been considering using force to keep Serbs from leaving Kosovo following its declaration of independence.


Sergey Lavrov, in an interview on state-run Vesti-24 television, said that would undermine security in the Balkans and Europe.


Lavrov suggested that the EU's police and justice mission was seeking help from NATO forces to ease its deployment in Serb-populated northern Kosovo and to keep Serbs in the region.


"We have information that the EU mission, attempting to deploy in Serb enclaves — and the Serbs do not want this — is trying to draw the NATO forces for Kosovo onto its side," he said. He added that "the question of using force to hold back Serbs who do not want to remain under Pristina's authority ... is being seriously discussed."


Lavrov also said "there is information that NATO contingents are trying to use force" to close the borders between Kosovo and "the rest of Serbia." He did not say where he got his information.


"This will only lead to yet another 'frozen conflict' and will push the prospects for stabilizing Europe — and first of all for stabilizing the Balkans — far to the side," he said.


NATO spokesman James Appathurai, responding to Lavrov's comments, said the alliance would be evenhanded in its treatment of all Kosovo residents.


"NATO forces in Kosovo have a clear mandate from the U.N. Security Council to establish a safe and secure environment for all residents, majority and minority alike," he said. "They have done that task in a neutral and impartial way since the day they deployed in Kosovo and they will continue to do so."