French Open: With a political message about Kosovo, Novak Djokovic runs the danger of inflaming political tensions in his home country after ethnic Serbs and police battled over the weekend, injuring peacekeeping forces.
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic scribbled on the camera lens after defeating Aleksandr Kovacevic in the first round of the French Open, “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. The bloodshed must stop.”
In an incident with ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, the NATO-led Kosovo Unit (KFOR) peacekeeping unit stated that 25 of its soldiers were hurt.
Although Belgrade refuses to accept Kosovo’s sovereignty, the two nations have remained enemies since the latter’s declaration of independence in 2008.
Over the weekend, violence erupted in the country’s north as a result of the installation of ethnic Albanian mayors in Serbian-dominated communities.
The confrontations were the most recent episode amid a week of rising tensions that saw Serbia place its military on high alert and send more troops to the Kosovo border.
In the meantime, as Russia’s conflict in Ukraine rages, the US and the EU have stepped their efforts to assist in resolving the Kosovo-Serbia dispute.
In order to move forward with their plans to join the group, Serbia and Kosovo must normalise their ties, as the EU has made plain.
Four communes in the northern area that had early elections last month, Zvecan, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Mitrovica, were guarded on Monday by Kosovar police and the NATO-led KFOR.
In an interview with Serbian journalists, Djokovic, whose father was born in Kosovo, said: “I am not a politician, and I have no desire to engage in arguments.”
“I am upset by what is occurring in Kosovo as a Serb. The municipalities have barred our people from living there. The least I could do is this. I feel obligated to assist our people and all of Serbia as a public person.”
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