Kosovo denies Russian allegations of "mercenary recruitment" for war in Ukraine

Headquarters of Kosovo's Foreign Ministry

 Kosovo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday rejected Russian claims for "mercenary recruitment in Kosovo, Albania, and Bosnia" to be involved in the fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

Russian media quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying during the week that Russian authorities were working to verify information about "mercenaries" from Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia going to Ukraine.

"Kosovo and some other parts of the Western Balkans are becoming a hotbed of crime. There are terrorists, drug dealers. Mercenaries are being recruited there for military conflicts instigated by the United States ...", Minister Lavrov was quoted as saying.

Kosovo's Foreign Ministry on Sunday "categorically rejected as untrue and biased any claim by the Russian news agency TASS and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that "Kosovo and some other parts of the Western Balkans are becoming ground for the crime .... ”.

A communiqué of this ministry states that Kosovo has by law prohibited the participation of its citizens in wars abroad and this law provides severe penalties for each of its citizens who may be part of such actions. The communiqué refers to the adoption of this law in 2015.

The Foreign Ministry considers that such allegations "are part of a fierce campaign of Russian propaganda aimed at drawing the attention of the entire democratic world from the anxiety created by the hegemonic policy and the Russian dictate on the right of peoples to free and sovereign life. "This savage Russian campaign against Kosovo and other Western Balkan countries, among other things, aims to tense the situation in Kosovo and beyond in the region through the Russian satellite in the Balkans, Serbia."

Russia, a longtime ally of Serbia, refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence, which on Thursday celebrated 14 years of its statehood, which has already been recognized by more than 100 countries, including the United States and key European Union countries..

Russia, a longtime ally of Serbia, refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence, which on Thursday celebrated 14 years of its statehood, which has already been recognized by more than 100 countries, including the United States and key European Union countries.

Moscow no longer favors NATO enlargement in the Western Balkans, nor in Eastern Europe, which was under its control during the Cold War.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a joint conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, criticized NATO, saying it had started a war in Europe by bombing Serbia in 1999.

Chancellor Scholz responded, saying that NATO intervention had taken place to prevent genocide, a reference to the persecution of Albanians in Kosovo by Serb forces.

The Russian president said later that Russia considered the treatment of ethnic Russians in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine "genocide", a statement which Chancellor Scholz later called "wrong".

Russia has gathered more than 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine, fueling Western concerns about its occupation.

Russia denies any plans to invade but urges the West to end NATO expansion to the east, a claim NATO has made unworkable." The official communiqué of Kosovo writes among other things.