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KFOR Commander: If we did not intervene in the north, we would now be mourning the dead

2023-05-31 23:55:16Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
KFOR Commander: If we did not intervene in the north, we would now be mourning
Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia

Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia, commander of the KFOR contingent, is probably the busiest man in all of Kosovo at the moment. His phone rings non-stop as he goes from one meeting to another at the NATO base in Pristina.

"As you know, thirty KFOR soldiers, 19 Hungarians and 11 Italians, were attacked by Serbian protesters on Monday, May 29. I am very close to them and their families. Nine of the Italians are in the hospital structure of the Camp Villaggio Italia base, one is hospitalized in Pristina and another in Skopje. I can say that none of them is in danger for their lives, they will recover quickly", he said.

What happened in front of the Municipality of Zveçan?

"This is an operating theater with an extremely volatile situation, and I use that term consciously. The situation can change suddenly during a very short period of time and for events that are apparently not important. On Monday, I had previously prepared a large contingent of soldiers in the four municipalities with a Serbian majority for the inauguration of the mayors of the recently elected Kosovo Albanian municipalities.

The risk was related to the fact that Prime Minister Kurti has decided to continue with the inauguration despite the protests of the Serbs and the doubts of the international community.

The commander of KFOR declared that if KFOR did not intervene in the north, 'now we would be mourning the dead'.

"The stubbornness of the Albanian local authorities not to act according to the indications received from the Western partners, indications that serve to facilitate the dialogue especially in the light of the progress made with the agreements in Brussels and Ohrid, has greatly weakened the balance. To be even more precise, I say that if we are not here today to mourn the dead among the Serbian population or among the ethnic Albanian policemen, it is because KFOR intervened and managed to restore calm" .

You talk about aggression against KFOR soldiers. What prompted it?

"The fact that fifteen Kosovar policemen were trapped for hours inside three armored vehicles surrounded by an increasingly agitated crowd. The protest had gotten out of the control of the Serbian demonstrators themselves, and if the Kosovo police had intervened, the situation would have worsened even more. So we intervened, as required by the rules of engagement of our mandate, to allow the removal of the three vehicles. At that moment our people were hit by shishkas, which contained pieces of iron and nails, Molotov cocktails and even gunshots. Three Hungarian soldiers were hit, but are out of danger."

Who was in the square on Monday?

"Strong lines, professional protestors who deliberately incited the crowd".

It looks like reinforcements are coming from Belgrade, are you worried?

"Nothing has changed for us and nothing has changed after the May 29 clashes. The mandate of UN Security Council resolution 1244 remains unchanged. And we are ready for any occasion".

The Israeli website Terror Alert, which monitors the movements of terrorist and paramilitary groups, has relaunched news that men from the Wagner Brigade, Prigozhin's Russian mercenaries, are said to be arriving in Kosovo. Are you aware of it?

"Until today, there is no evidence of their presence in this area. Often these are news produced by disinformation and not verified," he said.

*Interview given to La Repubblica


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