Could Kosovo be the next Ukraine – with this question, the British Telegraph presented its report on Pristina’s fear of a possible attack by Vučić’s Serbia as Putin’s ally. The media outlet even dispatched its defense editor to the hills in the far north of Kosovo to determine the situation in the field.
„We came to Kosovo to establish whether this could be the next big conflict in Europe. I am standing here on a mountain ridge with the hills of Serbia behind me,“ said the editor of this British media outlet, Danielle Sheridan, wearing what appears to be a bulletproof camouflage vest and gloves, but with no helmet.
In a video published on the Twitter account of the British Telegraph, Sheridan talks about the „fears“ of the Kosovo prime minister due to the „anti-Albanian“ sentiment of the Serbian president, and the „close relationship“ of Aleksandar Vučić with Putin.
In the text shared on the website of this media, it is stated that Kosovo ramped up security, with descriptions of Kosovo Police going on patrol on the “border with Serbia.”
The journalist is led on patrol by „Commander Elshani“ – Deputy Commander of the Kosovo Police for the north region, Veton Elshani.
This media outlet describes the north as a place of omnipresent support for Vladimir Putin, with the alleged remark of the Prime Minister of Kosovo that this is where future “Wagner wannabes” will be recruited for the war in Ukraine and the Balkans, as well as a place of hatred towards KFOR.
According to Sheridan’s writing, Kosovo is „host to a small community of ethnic Serbs in the northern border region.”
Ivanov: If you want to do a story on Kosovo – focus on the normalization talks and their failure
Helena Ivanov from the London-based Henry Jackson Society Institute underlined suggesting that escalations in Kosovo amount to war is “plain wrong”.
“Second, while we have seen substantial escalations in Kosovo lately, to suggest that those are amounting to war is plain wrong.”
In response to the text published in the Telegraph, she stressed that there is very low to no chance that a war could erupt in the Balkans as long as KFOR troops remain stationed in Kosovo.
“KFOR was and remains the guarantor of peace in this region,” Ivanov said.
“I do not understand why such a high-profile credible media outlet would air a story so completely misguided,” she tweeted, adding:
She underlined that the Balkans “was and remains an incredibly complicated region,” urging anyone who wants to write about it ought to do it justice and provide insight into that complexity.
“Thus, if you want to do a story on Kosovo, I think you ought to focus on the normalisation talks, their failure and underlying causes thereof, and how this created a hostile environment in which functional co-existence becomes borderline impossible.“
“Instead, the latest rounds of escalation have been primarily caused by a complete failure to reach political solutions to key political questions primarily due to lack of willingness of respective governments and the EU’s inability to effectively moderate the normalisation talks,” she concluded.
I do not understand why such a high-profile credible media outlet would air a story so completely misguided 🧵 https://t.co/YouZhEAdvi
— Helena Ivanov (@HelenaIvanov) April 11, 2024
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