2008: “Now it is more than clear that the cruel destruction of Serbia in the NATO bombing had only one real goal, and this is to turn the province of Kosovo into the first NATO state in the world,” [Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav] Kostunica said.

CNN
December 13, 2022

Kosovo calls for NATO intervention after weekend of violence amid rising ethnic tensions

Kosovo’s Prime Minister urged NATO peacekeeping troops to intervene after minority Serb protesters blocked roads…

At a news conference in Kosovo’s capital Pristina on Sunday, Prime Minister Albin Kurti asked the Kosovo Force (KFOR), a NATO-led international peacekeeping force, to guarantee “freedom of movement,” as he accused “criminal gangs” of blocking roads.

***

On Saturday, Serb protesters blocked main roads after the arrest of a former Serb policeman….

The ex-police officer is “accused of committing terrorist acts and attacking the constitutional order,” according to Kosovar authorities….

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Saturday that Belgrade would ask KFOR to let Serbia deploy military and police in Kosovo, but acknowledged there was no chance of permission being granted.

On Sunday, Vucic said Serbia demanded the release of all arrested Serbs from northern Kosovo, but also seeks to defuse tensions in the region.

Vucic accused authorities in Pristina and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Kurti of stoking tensions by making “countless unilateral moves.”

***

Serb mayors in northern Kosovo municipalities, along with local judges and some 600 police officers, resigned last month in protest over a Kosovo government move to replace Belgrade-issued car license plates with ones issued by Pristina.

***

Vucic demanded the release of recently arrested Kosovo Serbs “as they are held on trumped-up charges” and the pullout of Kosovo police, in line with an EU-brokered agreement that stipulates consent of Serb mayors in the area for that.

“Kosovo police has nothing to do in the north…especially people armed…up to their teeth,” Vucic said. “That causes uneasiness and fear among the Serb population.”