DISINFO: NATO decided to invade the Serbian enclave of Mitrovica to punish Belgrade
SUMMARY
Serbia rejects the sanctions approach towards Russia. To punish Serbia, NATO decided to use the same weapon of provocation previously used against Russia and China, using the government of self-proclaimed Kosovo for this purpose, which is not recognised as legitimate by half of the international community. Indeed, the military invasion of the Serbian enclave of Mitrovica represents an act of great provocation against Belgrade, to the extent that the possibility of the outbreak of armed conflict in the near future cannot be ruled out.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative not backed up with evidence, baselessly blaming NATO for a complicated situation that has been long brewing despite EU and US efforts to defuse tensions. NATO, a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation, didn’t play any role in increasing these tensions. In fact, both Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vuciv and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti requested some action from NATO to play some role to address the crisis.
On the other hand, Russian officials, media and Telegram channels have been trying for a long time to inflame tensions around Kosovo and the Western Balkans. On 15 November 2022, Russia launched its new online channel RT Balkan in the Serbian language, which RT head Margarita Simonyan presented with the words: “Because Serbia is Kosovo”. According to a recent report by the European Council on Foreign Relations, "[the Russian media's] aim is mainly to attack the legitimacy of Kosovo’s statehood, but also to fuel ethnic tensions by portraying the Serb community in Kosovo as victims of an abusive central government.”
Additionally, pro-Kremlin outlets exaggerate Serbia´s willingness to support Russia over the war in Ukraine. On 2 December 2022 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said: "no one can bypass EU sanctions against Russia through Serbia. "We have reacted in cases of re-export of certain goods and our state bodies have detained people from companies that were involved in bypassing sanctions against the Russian Federation," Vucic said after meeting EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi.
See also Russia’s interests in the Balkans, which perceives the EU as a strategic competitor in the region.
Parallel to Ukraine: the claim that "The actions of the European Union towards Serbia are comparable with the attitude of the collective West to the situation in Ukraine" is classic Kremlin whataboutism and an attempt to falsely legitimise Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. See more about Russia-created conflict in Donbas since 2014. A key figure of Russia's "hybrid", hidden war in Donbas is the convicted in absentia in the Hague Russian FSB officer Igor Girkin aka Strelkov. Interestingly enough, Girkin also participated in the war in Yugoslavia fighting in Bosnia on Serbia's side.
Read similar cases claiming that the EU wants to expand its imperialism in the Balkans, that the West has promoted separatism in Yugoslavia and that the West is trying to force Serbia to accept anti-Russian sanctions, fueling the conflict in Kosovo.