Vucic Warns of Possible Escalation If Kosovo Security Forces Deployed to Region's North

BELGRADE (Sputnik) - The deployment of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) in the region's predominantly Serb north will lead to an escalation and undermine all prior agreements between Belgrade and Pristina, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday.

Earlier this week, the government of the self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo approved its defense strategy, which says that the armed KSF will be operating throughout the breakaway region. However, Kosovo's special police units cannot enter Serb-populated municipalities in the north without a special permission, while deploying the KSF requires approval of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission Kosovo Force (KFOR), according to prior EU-brokered agreements between Belgrade and Pristina.

"I don't think it would happen that easily. It would mean that there is no longer any trace of any agreement about anything. It would mean that all they want is escalation, conflict and nothing else, and hopefully they won't try to do that," Vucic told reporters when asked about the KSF's possible deployment.

Pristina also claims that the agreement reached by Serbia and the self-proclaimed republic in November 2022 on the controversial policy on car license plates is set to expire on April 1. Kosovo Serbs are wary that local police might start seizing their cars.

EU spokesman for foreign affairs and security policy Peter Stano said that the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on car plates has no time limit or expiration date. The next round of technical negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade is scheduled for April 4 in Brussels.

In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia. In 2013, Serbia and Kosovo signed an EU-mediated agreement to normalize relations, but the dialogue soon came to a standstill. Tensions have been simmering on the border since mid-2022, escalating several times into road blockages in northern Kosovo and belligerent rhetoric on both sides.