The Russian media narrative against Kosovo

“The Western Balkans are on the brink of a large-scale war” is the title of an article published this week on the Russian portal zvezdaweekly.ru (11 October), which is in line with the narrative prevailing in the Russian media both before and after the terrorist attacks in the north of Kosovo on 24 September.

Vladimir Putin is also concerned about “the situation in the region”, as he said from Beijing at the Belt and Road Forum, from where he admitted that he had spoken to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic “briefly”, TASS reports.

“Yes, we talked briefly. He (Vucic) is also concerned about the situation in the region, throughout Serbia. We share these concerns,” the Russian leader told reporters in response to a question from TASS.

In the event of war, the Kosovo Albanians, the Russian media say, are certainly counting on help from the West and, above all, from NATO.

Moreover, zvezdaweekly.ru writes: “The Kosovars do not intend to limit themselves to pushing the Serbs out of Kosovo, they are also targeting the southern parts of Serbia, where Albanians still live and who have repeatedly declared their desire to join them. “.

And Pristina makes no secret of its intention “not to let its aspirations go unanswered”, it said.

The Serbs, they write, understand everything without further explanations from Pristina, Brussels, Washington and even official Belgrade, which most often resorts to “diplomatic courtesy”.

Observing the situation, zvezdaweekly.ru points out, it is impossible not to see the interest the US has in fomenting war in the Balkans.

Firstly, a large-scale armed conflict in this traditionally unstable region has every chance of drawing in other European countries and, as has happened many times in history, igniting the whole continent. At the same time, the war in Europe will contribute most to weakening the European Union, one of the main economic competitors of the United States.

Second, the war will severely weaken Serbia as a historic ally of Russia and will provide an opportunity to bring to power in Belgrade forces that will not raise the question of friendly relations with Moscow.

Thirdly, during a probable new Balkan war, in which the Serbs of the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) will certainly be involved, the West will be able to try to solve the “Serb question” in its entirety – to liberate the Balkans from a strong Orthodox people who never want to betray their friendship with the Russian people to any power.

And fourthly, a war in which Serbia participates will, in Washington’s view, certainly weaken Russia, which can militarily support its fellow Serbs and thus be drawn into the conflict. This, writes zvezdaweekly.ru, is especially relating to the US, given the West’s apparent failure in its war with Russia in Ukraine.

“That is why Moscow, together with Belgrade, must do everything in its power to prevent a US-induced war in the Balkans.”

In the article “Pristina tries to prevent new elections in Kosovo” (16 October), Russia’s Pravda writes that the Srpska Lista is demanding that the date of the elections be set as soon as possible and that the “ball” is in Pristina’s court.

After the failure of the last elections on April 23, which the local Serbs and their main party Srpska Lista boycotted “expressing their will due to the oppression of the Albanian rulers in the Serbian province, the politically correct West announced”.

Pristina, writes Pravda, well aware that the West will not just give up on the need to organise a new elections for the Serbs in the province, is trying to invent reasons and circumstances to make it as difficult as possible to repeat the campaign.

“Nevertheless, the election of new municipal presidents, who will undoubtedly be Serbs (instead of their Albanian “Gauleiter” (the term used by Aleksandar Vucic to describe Albin Kurti), will weaken the autocracy of Kosovo’s rulers in the north.

This media outlet ridicules the suggestion by Kosovo’s President, Vjosa Osmani, that the citizens of the municipalities in the north of Kosovo should launch a petition to remove the mayor as a way of holding new elections.

“Pristina simply washed its hands of it: ‘If you want elections, demand them, no one in power will do it of their own free will!'”

This, he said, is an indication that the Kosovo authorities do not want de-escalation.

“Kurti & Co. cannot disobey their Western ‘bosses’,” Pravda argues.

Ria Novosti, in a text entitled Ambassador to Serbia finds former NATO commander’s words in Kosovo cynical (03.10), reports on a statement by the Russian diplomat in Belgrade, Aleksandr Bochan-Harchenko, denying Wesley Clark’s accusations that the Serbian Orthodox Church had stored weapons in the Banjska monastery in northern Kosovo.

“The malicious attempts by retired US General Clark to accuse, without evidence, the Serbian Orthodox Church of storing weapons on the territory of a monastery in Kosovo cause deep concern,” RIA Novosti reports the Russian ambassador as saying.

“The same cynical scheme is used by Westerners in relation to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church: they pass on false information as ‘confidential intelligence’ and then use it as an excuse for the barbaric persecution of clergy and parishioners,” the Russian diplomat was quoted as saying.

In the 19 October edition, Kommersant, in a text headlined “The quintet is thrown into Kosovo breakthrough”, says that envoys from key Western countries will visit Kosovo and Serbia to try to “stop the escalation”.

A similar visit by a Western quintet earlier this year led to Belgrade and Pristina accepting an EU plan to normalise relations.

“This time the pressure will be mainly on Belgrade, which the West suspects of being responsible for the recent armed attack on Kosovo police.

Komersant recalls that Milan Radoičić, then Vice-President of the Srpska Lista, was arrested in Belgrade at the beginning of October, but was released a day later on his own recognizance and banned from visiting Kosovo.

“It is obvious that Milan Radoicic, who enjoys the great trust of Aleksandar Vucic and is for him a kind of governor of the north of Kosovo, has agreed to play the role of a scapegoat in order to save the President of Serbia from accusations of involvement in the attack on the Kosovo police,” writes Kommersant. Whether this will happen will become clear after the visit of the Western quintet to the Balkans, the newspaper concludes.