A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***Last week, clashes erupted in northern Kosovo between police, NATO peacekeepers, and ethnic Serbs, who form the majority of the population in the region. At least 30 NATO peacekeepers were injured. The violence comes after elections in April were largely boycotted by Serbs, which resulted in ethnic Albanians taking control of local government. The clashes have stoked fears of renewed conflict in the region, historically plagued by ethnic violence. We asked four experts to tell us more about what’s happening.Read more below.Gorana Grgić Senior Lecturer, Department of Government and International Relations & the United States Studies Centre, University of SydneyThe recent escalation of violence in Kosovo adds to the already negative trajectory of events lately. It is a consequence of internal political dynamics within both Kosovo and Serbia, further exacerbated by a combination of disinterest and limited resources from the United States and the European Union. Their involvement has been primarily focused on maintaining relative stability and achieving superficial successes, such as with the Ohrid Agreement earlier this year. The statements made by the U.S. ambassador to Kosovo and the EU foreign policy chief indicate that Western capitals approach the region with concerns about the spillover of rising geopolitical tensions and conflicts in Europe and beyond, which ultimately hinders the potential for positive democratic progress. Dimitar Bechev Lecturer, Oxford School of Global Area Studies Visiting Scholar, Carnegie EuropeThe recent escalation between Serbia and Kosovo undermines EU and U.S. efforts to broker a settlement. The verbal agreement reached by Prime Minister Albin Kurti and President Aleksandar Vučić back in March hangs
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A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***Last week, clashes erupted in northern Kosovo between police, NATO peacekeepers, and ethnic Serbs, who form the majority of the population in the region. At least 30 NATO peacekeepers were injured. The violence comes after elections in April were largely boycotted by Serbs, which resulted in ethnic Albanians taking control of local government. The clashes have stoked fears
