Nato sends more troops to Kosovo after border unrest

[Gerald]

Nato is sending hundreds of extra troops to Kosovo amid rising tension in the north along its border with Serbia.

The military alliance said the situation had not deteriorated but that reinforcements were needed to relieve troops currently patrolling the north.

Soldiers from Nato's Kosovo Force were deployed after ethnic Serb nationalists set up road blocks in the area.

Clashes broke out last week after the government sent ethnic Albanian police to enforce a ban on Serbian imports.

A border post was torched and demolished and a Kosovo policeman killed after the nationalists reacted angrily to their presence.

Previously, the border posts had been guarded by ethnic Serb police, whom the government in Pristina suspected of turning a blind eye to the ban on imports from Serbia.

The ban was imposed after Belgrade banned imports from Kosovo when it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Kosovo's 60,000 ethnic Serbs reject Kosovo's independence from Serbia.

Serbia itself has also refused to recognise its former territory's independence.

More than 70 countries have recognised Kosovo's independence, but an even greater number of countries have withheld recognition.

Troops from Kosovo Force (Kfor) stepped in to guard the border after last week's unrest.

The Reuters news agency said 600 German and 100 Austrian troops from Kfor's reserve battalion would be deployed to relieve those already in the area. Kfor has about 6,000 soldiers in Kosovo.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14376424


Note: 2 August 2011 Last updated at 13:16 GMT

[Betonov]

Our troops are currently peace-keeping in Mitrovica. Luckly the Serbs trust us so in a case of a broader conflict, Slovenian troops will a bit safer. Which is not saying much, any balkan war will be a bloodbath.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Mitrovica is looking like potentially one of the places not to be.

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Mitrovica is looking like potentially one of the places not to be.

The entire Kosovo is not the place to be.

[Respenus]

Originally Posted by Betonov

The entire Balkans are not the place to be.

Here, fixed it for you.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Mitrovica is looking like potentially one of the places not to be.

Originally Posted by Betonov

The entire Kosovo is not the place to be.

Aye that

NATO should sort it just as easeily as they did Libya...oh, err wait

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by Respenus

Here, fixed it for you.

Not counting the food and some history tourism I agree

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Aye that

NATO should sort it just as easeily as they did Libya...oh, err wait

NATO, UN or EU can't grasp the scope of nationalism in the region and couldn't grasp it since 1991. Even Slovenia couldn't understand the madness that were the nineties. These are not redneck patriot groups of the USA, or the skinhead mobs of Germany nor the separatist organisations as IRA or ETA.
These are not angry mobs or terorist cells. There's plenty of idiots on both sides to raise an army to rival the official army of Serbia. Heck, there's enough ''recruits'' to over-run Sweden. And weapons are as easy as aquiring as canned food. Not over the counter hunting rifles but military hardware. And the last thing they are interested in is talking and diplomacy.
If the Balkans are lucky it will blow over, if not, Kfor should ask for a lot more reinforcements. The Serbs still remember their wars against the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary, for them the USA is still a third rate power hiding above the clouds in their airplanes just like in 1995. They won't back down just because an American GI or a Slovenian vojacek tells them to keep it quiet. And they as sure won't listen to Belgrade. They feel betrayed by Tadic.
Problem is that the Balkan wars tend to spill over. First you have the border incidents, then nationalist para-military units doing what they do best, bosnian Serbs seeing the weakness in NATO being occupied in Kosovo and we have another Bosnian war.

[Jimbuna]

You missed a little bit at the end....and further war crimes

[Betonov]

War is a crime

[Jimbuna]

I can agree but it would appear we've just rounded up one of the last of the big fish and we could yet feel the need to seek out more...a very nasty business.

[Lord Justice]

Originally Posted by Betonov

They won't back down just because an American GI or a Slovenian vojacek tells them to keep it quiet.

Oh but they would if the knew British SAS, Paras, Marines, Gurkha's, were made ready.

[Respenus]

The (long) post by Betonov reminds me of a very poignant analysis offered by one of the characters in the game "The Last Express" (which, on a side note, I highly recommend, as it is a piece of art by any standard), that is, that war (conflict in general) is part of our blood in the Balkans. While hopefully stupidity is not a general characteristic shared by all living there (at least no more than the rest of the world), it, together with an aggressive mentality, can easily result in the horrors that the world saw in the 90s.

Just found the clip of the in question. Doesn't last more than 10 seconds, yet the message is clear.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Lord Justice

Oh but they would if the knew British SAS, Paras, Marines, Gurkha's, were made ready.

Never happens at this time of the week. Government/Military Chiefs meet on a Thursday, decision made also on a Thursday, filters through commands Friday mornings and those affected find out (usually) just before lunch on a Friday ready to piss on their weekend plans. Seen it time and time again.

Let's hope that if we do go in we aren't left hanging around at the borders waiting for the Americans like last time - that's why the Russians beat us to the airport at Pristina - and what a find we would've had if we'd got there first.

Edit - actually rumours abound Friday lunch, it's not until the afternoon that anything is half-arsed confirmed.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Not counting ... some history tourism I agree

"Come to the Balkans... see the place World War One started!"