The situation in Kosovo is escalating? "Terrifying"

The situation in Kosovo is escalating? "Terrifying"

"Such one-sidedness is a blank check for Kurti to do as he pleases."

Žaklin Nastić, member of the Left in the German Bundestag, was guarded by two armed members of the German Federal Institute for the Fight against Crime during her trip to Kosovo in March.

As Nastić now told the newspaper Junge Welt, it is a precaution because of "the most terrible insults, death threats, rape fantasies" that she often receives from "Albanian nationalists".

Nastić, who like a good part of her party opposes the independence of Kosovo, visited the village of Gotovuša where two young Serbs were wounded last Christmas Day. The attacker was a member of the Kosovo police.

She criticized the fact that the attacker was only under house arrest and that he was not charged with attempted murder. "That says a lot about the supposed rule of law in Kosovo," she said.

The situation escalates with Kurti

In Kosovo, she spoke with Serbs south of the Ibar and representatives of Serb List. Nastić says that Serbs live in fear and an atmosphere of constant threats, and that there are three attacks on them per day on average.

"Minorities are afraid that they have been given free rein. Everyone sees that it is possible to simply try to kill people and get away with it. No one is consistently punished for it or has to go to prison. It is really scary," added Nastić in an interview with the left-wing newspaper Junge Welt.

She adds that Serbs who were at least 18 years old in 1999 live in fear that they could be accused of war crimes without evidence. "There are great fears because the situation is now explosive, as it has not been for years," added Nastić.

She states that an important interlocutor - whose name she could not reveal - told her that it was possible to negotiate with the former president Hashim Thaci. "Since Kurti is in power, there is no more dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, everything takes place only through the EU. There are no more attempts to find solutions together."

"People feel this directly, not only Serbs, but also Albanians, for whom the situation is also not great. Let's say in Mitrovica, where Serbs from the northern part of the city used to also buy from their Albanian neighbors from the southern part. Now the fear of attacks is so great that they don't do that anymore. Traders feel it," says the German MP.

Accusations against the German authorities

According to her, official Berlin fails to pressure Pristina in order to calm down the situation. "The conflict is being downplayed here, and the blame is unilaterally attributed to Serbia. Pressure is exerted only on Belgrade, but not on Kurti and those who politically pull the strings in Kosovo. Such one-sidedness is a blank check for Kurti to do as he pleases", she said.

Nastić accuses German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of interpreting international law as she sees fit, thus condemning the secession of parts of eastern Ukraine, but does not do the same when it comes to the "aggression of NATO, and thus Germany" against Serbia in 1999.

At the end of the conversation with Junge Welt, Nastić welcomes the proceedings currently being held in The Hague against Thaci and others. "For me, the KLA is a terrorist organization," she says.

"It is important that war crimes on all sides are prosecuted without a trace - this, by the way, also includes NATO. The Western countries must finally open their files."