The commander of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, Turkish Major General Ozkan Ulutash, said that since October 2025, the security situation in Kosovo is generally calm, but with the potential for new tensions.
“We have not seen a recurrence of violence, as we saw in 2023. However, the situation remains fragile, with the potential for new tensions, especially in the north of Kosovo,” he said during a meeting with ambassadors of NATO countries and NATO contributing partners in Brussels on April 29.
Tensions in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo flared in 2023, initially in May, when local Serbs opposed the inauguration of Albanian mayors of four northern municipalities, who were elected after local Serbs boycotted local elections.
Tensions culminated in September of the same year, when a group of armed Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police in Banjska, killing Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku.
The responsibility for the attack was taken by Millan Radoicic, former vice-president of the Serbian List – the main party of the Serbs that enjoys the support of Belgrade.
Earlier this year, the head of NATO, Mark Rutte, said that he is still waiting for Serbia to determine the responsibility for Banjska.
During the meeting in Brussels, Ulutash also said that there is an “urgent need for a long-term political solution”.
“NATO continues to fully support the dialogue mediated by the European Union for the normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade. In the end, stability depends on all parties choosing diplomacy over violence. The path to long-term peace is political, not military. KFOR will continue to support this process,” Ulutash said.
Kosovo and Serbia have been holding dialogue, under the mediation of the EU, since 2011.
A number of agreements have been reached throughout the years of dialogue, but many of them have not been implemented on the ground.
However, there has not been a high-level political meeting between Kosovo and Serbia since September 2023. The last meeting between Kurt and Vučić took place a few days before the armed attack in Banjska of Zvečani, for which Kosovo blames Serbia, but Belgrade denies any involvement./REL/
