Kurti calls on NATO to deploy additional troops in Kosovo

His statements come amid rising tensions between Pristina and Belgrade

The NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force in (so-called) Kosovo should be expanded to strengthen regional security, prime minister of Kosovo’s Albin Kurti said in a statement published in a German newspaper.

“A significant reinforcement of NATO soldiers and military equipment in our country would be a boost to security and peace in Kosovo and in the entire region of the Western Balkans,” Kurti told Die Welt.

His statements come amid rising tensions between Pristina and Belgrade.

Kurti also said that “men with insignia of the Russian Wagner Group mercenaries and the nationalist Russian motorcycle club Night Wolves were involved in putting up the barricades.”

This made “the need for additional NATO troops as clear as the build-up of Serbian troops and artillery along the Kosovo border,” he said.

“An increase in the number of soldiers in the KFOR peacekeeping force led by NATO would support our efforts in the field of defense,” Kurti said.

Russia has denied any involvement in fueling tensions in the region, while underlining its support for Belgrade.