Yury Kobzar 12:52, 01.10.23

The Kremlin is determined to launch hybrid aggression against the Alliance where NATO has its weakest positions.

Recent months have shown that due to the failure of the blitzkrieg in Ukraine, the Kremlin has changed its strategy and is now betting on the weakening and collapse of NATO. The British publication The Telegraph writes about this , analyzing the geopolitical situation in Europe.

According to the author of the publication, Vladimir Putin has set himself the goal of “taking NATO apart and identifying the alliance’s weaknesses.” The military setback in Ukraine has reduced the immediate threat to Poland and the Baltic states somewhat, but Russia is now looking for NATO’s weak spot. The Balkans, which The Telegraph calls NATO’s weakest flank, will likely be the new point of application for Moscow’s destabilizing efforts.

Last week, a group of armed Serbs ambushed a Kosovo police patrol, ultimately ending in a brief battle and the death of one policeman and three Serbs. The escalation is being described as one of the most serious since 2008, when Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.

“This escalation is Moscow’s dream. Serbia and Russia have been preparing the Serbs for months for an escalation in Kosovo, stoking tensions in the Balkans to divert Western attention from the war in Ukraine. They have flooded the information space with propaganda that repeats old claims that Kosovo belongs to Serbia.” , – notes the publication.

Now Russia is actively using this event in its foreign policy rhetoric, accusing the West of fueling the conflict in the Balkans. By acting through hybrid methods without sending troops to the region, Putin seeks to achieve three goals: distract the West from Ukraine, strengthen Moscow’s position in the region, and give Putin leverage over Western states by blackmailing them with the threat of escalating the conflict in the region.

The Telegraph emphasizes that the Serb attack on the Kosovo patrol is to a certain extent reminiscent of how Russia sent “little green men” to Ukraine, links with which were officially denied. 

“Another Kosovo crisis could easily spill over into North Macedonia, a NATO member state, and would have serious implications for European defense at a time when the US is distracted by upcoming elections. Despite NATO’s overall military superiority, it has a weak position in the Balkans, and “Russia continues to defeat him there. The time has come for NATO to strengthen its presence in the region and put Russia on the defensive,” the author of the publication writes.

Tensions around Kosovo

As UNIAN wrote, last Sunday a group of armed Serbs ambushed a police patrol in Kosovo. After this, the attackers barricaded themselves in an Orthodox monastery, which Kosovo security forces began to storm. The result was the death of one policeman and three armed Serbs.

The ambush was of a “very high level of sophistication” and involved about 20 vehicles, “military-grade” weapons and other equipment, according to the US.

In response to this event, the Serbian authorities began to move tanks and artillery to the border with Kosovo. This has already caused serious concern in Washington. They called on Belgrade to de-escalate.

(c)UNIAN 2023