Peackeeping

International efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo intensified today as ethnic Serbs held more protests in a town where clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers earlier this week left dozens injured and sparked fears of renewed conflict. Serbians want Kosovo special police and ethnic Albanian officials withdrawn from northern Kosovo where Serbs are a majority. [node:read-more:link]

A day after 30 NATO peacekeepers and 52 Serbian protesters were hurt in clashes in Kosovo over the appointment of ethnic Albanian mayors, the alliance said today it is deploying 700 more troops. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized by many European states as well as the U.S., but Russian-backed Serbia refuses to follow suit. [node:read-more:link]

Two dozen NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo were injured today, three seriously, in attacks by Serb demonstrators angered at having ethic Albanian mayors. The crisis dates to April when Serbs boycotted local elections, allowing Albanians to take control of local councils with a less than 4% voter turnout. Ethnic Albanians account for more than 90% of the Kosovar population but Serbs are the majority in the north. [node:read-more:link]

UN Secretary General António Guterres wants an international specialized armed force deployed to Haiti as gang violence and human rights violations have reached a critical level. His call is part of a report January 23 by the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, which says killings surged by 35 per cent last year while kidnappings more than doubled. “There are also allegations that a significant number of national police . . . may be associated with gangs,” Guterres said. [node:read-more:link]

NATO’s mission in Kosovo has refused a request by the Serbian government to send police and army personnel into Kosovo after a spate of clashes. “They consider that there is no need for the return of the Serbian army to Kosovo . . . citing the United Nations resolution approving their mandate in Kosovo,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said January 8. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. [node:read-more:link]

An Irish Army private, Seán Rooney, one of some 10,000 UN peacekeepers deployed to southern Lebanon by 47 countries, died earlier this month when his armoured vehicle was attacked en route to Beirut. A suspect was reportedly turned over to authorities by Hezbollah militants who denied any involvement in the attack. [node:read-more:link]

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has called off a December 7 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Charles Michel, saying that he does not want Macron involved in peace talks with Armenia. Aliyev accused the French leader today of having “attacked” and “insulted” his country and said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was trying to sabotage talks by insisting on France helping to broker an accord to resolve a long-running territorial dispute. [node:read-more:link]

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed today that his country is formally ending its eight-year military operation in the Sahel, nearly nine months after withdrawing its troops from Mali. Faced with the continuing spread of jihadis linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and a growing number of French casualties, there has been increasing down about the fundamental viability of an ongoing intervention. While some 3,000 French troops will remain in Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso, they will act only in concert with those countries’ forces. [node:read-more:link]

The United Nations is being told that it needs a new “mutually agreeable” with Turkey if UN peacekeepers are to remain in their bases in Cyprus. The force was created in 1964 to maintain a 180-kilomertre buffer zone between the island’s Greek and Turkish populations. More than 25,000 Canadian Armed Forces personnel have been stationed there over the decades but only a small presence is maintained today. [node:read-more:link]

Three UN peacekeepers from Bangladesh were killed and several others were injured earlier this week by a roadside bomb in the Central African Republic. The attack on their patrol vehicle took place near the border with Cameroon in a region rife with Christian and Muslim militia activity. [node:read-more:link]

A U.S. decision to lift its 1987 embargo on arms exports to divided Cyprus in the hope of resolving the long-running territorial dispute between Turkey and Greece has prompted the Turkish foreign minister to warn of an “arms race” as it would “further strengthen the Greek Cypriot side’s intransigence and negatively affect efforts to resettle the Cyprus issue.” The country has been monitored since 1964 by a UN peacekeeping mission, which saw one of its vehicles attacked last May. [node:read-more:link]

NATO is prepared to increase its nearly 4,000-strong peacekeeping force in Kosovo if there is an escalation of tensions with neighbouring Serbia. “If needed, we will move forces, deploy them where needed and increase our presence,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, flanked by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, told reporters in Brussels August 17. “We have already increased the presence in the north; we are ready to do more.” [node:read-more:link]

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali was expected to resume today, a month after local authorities suspended rotations after accusing 49 troops from Ivory Coast of entering their country without permission. Ivory Coast says those troops were deployed as part of a MINUSMA support contract but they remain in detention. [node:read-more:link]

The government of Mali, which has experienced three military coups since 2012 and is considered extremely unstable, has refused permission for routine flyovers by a UN peacekeeping mission. As a result, Germany announced today that it has suspended most operations there until further notice. [node:read-more:link]