Fears of instability for elections/ EULEX reinforces specialized police unit in Kosovo

The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) said on Tuesday that it is reinforcing its Specialized Police Unit (SPU) through the temporary deployment of members of the European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR) from France, Italy, Lithuania and Portugal.

According to the announcement, these police officers will work "side by side with the PSC provided by the Polish Police, to fulfill the mission's mandate in support of stability throughout Kosovo and to guarantee security for all communities."

This announcement was made a day after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the Western military alliance is in contact with officials in Pristina and those in Belgrade to ensure that there is no destabilization in Kosovo during the parliamentary elections to be held on February 9.

Rutte has called the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and relations between Kosovo and Serbia "key issues in the Western Balkans region."

Additional EULEX forces are expected to arrive in Kosovo in the coming days and, according to the announcement, will conduct visible patrols.

This will be the fifth deployment of the EULEX reserve unit, while the first deployment took place in March 2022.

EULEX serves as the second security responder in Kosovo within a three-tier security responder mechanism, with the Kosovo Police as the first security responder, EULEX as the second, and the NATO-led KFOR mission as the third.

Kosovo will hold regular parliamentary elections on February 9.

The elections are being held at a time when tensions have been high in the northern part of the country, inhabited by a Serb majority, in the last two years.

In September 2023, a group of armed Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police in northern Kosovo, killing a sergeant.
During the ensuing exchange of fire in Banjska, Zvečan, three more Serb attackers were killed.

Meanwhile, in November last year, an explosion occurred in the Iber-Lepenc canal in Zubin Potok.

This canal supplies water to several municipalities in Kosovo and its water is used to cool power plants.

For both events, Kosovo blamed Serbia, which denied involvement in the attacks./ REL