Irish Defence Forces monitoring worsening security situation in Kosovo

Wed, 28 Dec, 2022 - 17:00

Cormac O’Keeffe, Security Correspondent

The Defence Forces are monitoring a worsening security situation in Kosovo after shots were fired near peacekeepers in the north of the Balkan state.

There are 13 personnel from the Irish Defence Forces serving with the KFOR mission — which is mandated by the UN and led by Nato — although none of the Irish soldiers is conducting active patrols.

An investigation is underway after a shooting incident on Christmas Day near a KFOR patrol in Zubin Potok, a town in northern Kosovo.

Local ethnic Serbs have been manning road barricades there for the past two weeks. Around half of the ethnic Serb population live in north Kosovo and maintain close ties to Serbia.

None of the peacekeepers — from Latvia — was injured in the shooting.

Serbia has placed its security troops along the border on a “full state of combat readiness”, despite pleas from KFOR for calm.

Serbian officials have alleged harassment of Kosovo Serbs by the majority Albanian population. They set up roadblocks earlier this month after police arrested a former Serb police officer on charges of assault.

Latvia’s chief of defence, Lieutenant General Leonids Kalnins said the intention of the people who fired the shots at patrolling Latvian troops was to reduce the peacekeepers’ activities.

KFOR was established in 1999 after Serbian military actions created a human catastrophe in Kosovo, with UN reports estimating that 250,000 civilians had been forced from their homes.

Kosovo Serbs carrying a giant Serbian flag during a protest near a barricade near Rudare village north of the Serb-dominated part of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, earlier this month. Picture: Bojan Slavkovic/AP

This prompted Nato aerial bombardment of Serbian targets in Kosovo and Serbia. In June 1999, Serbia pulled its troops out and the Nato-led, UN-mandated, peacekeeping mission entered.

Ireland was among the countries that contributed to that mission in 1999 and its presence increased over the following years. For a period, Ireland had an area of responsibility, requiring active patrolling.

Asked about the security threat posed to Irish personnel following the shooting, the Defence Forces said: “The Defence Forces are aware of the current situation in Kosovo and continue to monitor.

"Over the last number of weeks, KFOR has increased its presence and patrolling in northern Kosovo and continues to maintain its presence through patrolling and liaison.

"The incident referred to is under investigation, and no KFOR personnel were injured.”

It said there was a total of 13 Irish Defence Forces personnel serving with the KFOR mission, in a force of approximately 3,700 personnel.

“All of these [Irish] personnel are based in Camp Film City, KFOR Headquarters in Pristina and all are in Headquarter Staff appointments.”

The statement said there was “no longer” an Irish infantry company serving in KFOR. It said there was no Irish in the multinational MP [military police] company and no Irish national support element in Skopje, the capital of neighbouring North Macedonia.

“Therefore, we no longer have an Irish area of responsibility in theatre in Kosovo and we do not conduct patrols in the area,” the statement said.

Serbia places troops on Kosovo border in ‘full state of combat alert readiness’