Page 30 - bon-dia-aruba-20220818

A30 world news
Diahuebs 18 augustus 2022

EU to host Serbia-Kosovo talks in Brussels amid tensions

Vucic said it was "a lie" that instigating the riots in order conflict.
Serbia wants to intervene in to destabilize the country,
Kosovo but added that a gen- which declared indepen- Russian officials and their
eration of new Serb "kids" dence after a NATO inter- propaganda, which are very
living there "do not consider vention that stopped Serbia's active in Serbia, were quick
Kosovo as an independent bloody crackdown against to join the pro-Serbian nar-
state and view it as a part of ethnic Albanian separatists in rative, claiming the Serb mi-
Serbia." 1999. nority in Kosovo is being op-
pressed and subjected to vio-
State Department spokesman Kosovo Interior Minister lence by majority ethnic Al-
Ned Price said success of the Xhelal Svecla accused Serbia banians — the same narrative
Brussels talks "is an absolute and its ally Russia of trigger- used as an excuse by Moscow
priority" for the U.S. ing and supporting the riot- for invading Ukraine.
"We fully support this dia- ing.
logue." he told reporters in "We see direct involvement There are fears in the West
(AP) — Wartime rivals Brussels on Wednesday, said Washington. "It's important, of Belgrade, not just in their that Russia could use Serbia
Serbia and Kosovo are NATO-led troops stationed we believe, that both par- rhetoric ... but also in direct to destabilize the Balkans and
holding high-level crisis in Kosovo have strengthened ties use this opportunity to involvement of groups from thus shift at least some atten-
talks on Thursday which their presence on Kosovo's advance their discussions on Serbia, including their secu- tion from its war in Ukraine.
European Union media- northern border with Serbia normalization." rity agencies," he told the As- Raising the stakes, Russian
tors hope will de-escalate because of the current ten- The latest tensions between sociated Press. "This is inflat- officials recently started ad-
growing tensions in the sions. Serbia and Kosovo soared late ed and imported from Serbia vocating establishing a mili-
Balkans, where Russia has "But of course, we will act last month when Kurti's gov- and Russia, their so-called tary base in Serbia, which is
tried to further increase when needed and we will ernment declared that Ser- bigger brother, to incite vio- surrounded almost entirely
its influence amid the war act in a proportionate way bian identity documents and lence in Kosovo." by NATO member nations.
in Ukraine. because our main aim is to vehicle license plates would
help to reduce tensions and no longer be valid on Kosovo Serbian officials accused "Serbia is militarily neutral
Hopes that the rare face-to- to ensure all communities to territory. Kosovo authorities of plan- and we do not need foreign
face meeting between Serbi- freedom of movement, to the ning to chase all remaining (military) bases," Vucic, who
an President Aleksandar Vu- safety of all communities, in- Under apparent pressure Serbs out of Kosovo, saying is considered a pro-Russian
cic and Kosovo Prime Min- cluding, of course, the Serbs from the West, Kurti post- Belgrade will use "all avail- politician and often praises
ister Albin Kurti, to be held in Kosovo," Stoltenberg said. poned the implementation of able means" to stop the "po- his friendly ties with Russian
in Brussels, could produce a the measure for a month, to grom." President Vladimir Putin,
major breakthrough are slim. He urged "all parties to en- Sept. 1. As the EU appealed for said after his talks with Stol-
gage positively and construc- calm, Vucic visited Serbian tenberg.
But Western officials oversee- tively in the latest round of Minority Serbs, who live army headquarters in Bel- Serbia, Russia and China
ing the decades-old deadlock the EU talks tomorrow." mostly in northern Kosovo, grade in what was seen as a don't recognize Kosovo's in-
between the two neighbors reacted with anger, putting thinly veiled warning that all dependence, which is sup-
hope that it would at least Kosovo is a former province up roadblocks, sounding air options — including mili- ported by the United States
reduce the increasingly war- of Serbia, which has refused raid sirens and firing their tary action — were on the and most other Western
mongering rhetoric coming to recognize the country's guns into the air and in the table. There are about 3,800 states. The EU has said that
from both sides. 2008 declaration of indepen- direction of Kosovo police NATO-led peacekeepers both Serbia and Kosovo need
dence. The European Union officers. No one was injured. stationed in Kosovo and any to normalize their relations if
NATO Secretary-General has overseen years of talks to military intervention there, they want to join the 27-na-
Jens Stoltenberg, who sepa- normalize their ties. The Kosovo government ac- Serbian or Russian, would al- tion bloc.
rately met Vucic and Kurti in cused neighboring Serbia of most certainly create a wider

Spain: 10 injured while leaving stopped train near wildfire

(AP) — An approaching wild- out of control in eastern Spain. (165,000 acres) since 2006, when re- However, officials warned a new heat
fire in eastern Spain caused a cords began. wave forecast for the area could com-
train driver to stop and prepare South of Valencia city, a fire around plicate the task.
to change directions to avoid the the Val d'Ebo area has burnt 11,500 In neighboring Portugal, authorities
flames, and several passengers hectares (28,000 acres) and forced said they hoped to bring under con- Smoke from the Portuguese fire
were injured when they got off more than 1,500 people to evacuate trol a wildfire that has burned for 12 reached Spain's capital, Madrid,
rather than wait, authorities said towns and villages since the weekend. days and burnt large swaths of pine about 400 kilometers (240 miles) to
Wednesday. forest in the Serra da Estrela Natural the east, on Tuesday.
The region's emergency services Park.
The train was traveling in the Valen- tweeted Wednesday afternoon that
cia region on Tuesday night when the nearly 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres)
driver decided to reverse course be- have been burned in the Bejís fire
cause of the wildfire advancing from and 1,500 people moved from their
around the town of Bejís, further east. homes.
Some passengers got off the train
when it stopped in the countryside, Valencia regional president Ximo
including ones who broke windows Puig said earlier that the Bejís fire
to escape, officials said. Ten people had a perimeter of some 50 kilome-
were injured, Spanish state news ters (30 miles) and the Val d'Ebo blaze
agency Efe reported. had a perimeter of 80 kilometers (50
miles).
The government of Castellón prov-
ince on Wednesday tweeted a video The European Forest Fire Informa-
of firefighters running for their lives tion System says 275,000 hectares
as towering flames from the Bejís fire (679,000 acres) have burned in wild-
roared behind them. fires so far this year in Spain. That's
more than four times the country's
The wildfire is one of two still raging annual average of 67,000 hectares