By Canadian Press

Serbian troops placed on alert after Kosovo police arrests

May 28, 2019 | 2:05 AM

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia ordered its troops to full alert on Tuesday as tensions soared in the Balkans amid reports that Kosovo police entered Serb-populated regions of the former Serbian province and made several arrests.

Serbia’s state TV said that Kosovo’s special police “burst into” northern Kosovo early in the morning. Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj confirmed the action, saying on Twitter that an “anti-smuggling and organized crime operation” is underway in northern Kosovo.

“This operation is against organized crime and it also targets police and customs officers.” Haradinaj said. He called for calm.

Serbian government official Marko Djuric said the Kosovo police action is designed to intimidate and expel Serbs from Kosovo and presents a “not only a threat to stability but the most direct threat to peace.”

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“If this doesn’t stop immediately, there is no doubt how Serbia will react already during the day,” Djuric warned.

State TV said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic ordered a full state of alert for Serbian troops stationed near the border with Kosovo.

Serbia lost control over Kosovo after a NATO intervention in 1999 that stopped a bloody Serb crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists and civilians. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

On Monday, Vucic warned of renewed clashes in Kosovo if a negotiated “compromise” solution for Serbia’s predominantly ethnic Albanian former province is not found soon.

The Associated Press