Germany is closely monitoring the tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius assured on Monday, as quoted by the German news agency DPA.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and will react if necessary,” said Boris Pistorius, who at the same time called for a de-escalation of tensions, according to DPA, quoted by Agerpres.

The German defense minister did not rule out an increase in the contribution of German troops to NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, as Britain has done, but clarified that this is not currently planned.

Boris Pistorius also emphasized that Germany “will be able to act very quickly” if the need arises.

“Ceiling of personnel – 400 German soldiers for KFOR”

The president of the defense committee of the German parliament earlier on Monday mentioned the idea of ​​sending more German soldiers to the KFOR mission.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told the German media group RND that, according to the mandate, “the personnel ceiling is 400 soldiers.”

Currently, only 85 soldiers from Germany serve in KFOR, “so without the need to change the mandate, there is still a lot of room for improvement,” the German official concluded.

KFOR, present in Kosovo since the 1998-99 war, remains the main institution responsible for security, with 4,500 soldiers from 27 countries.

On Sunday, an alliance spokesman announced that around 600 British soldiers would be deployed to Kosovo to strengthen NATO’s presence in the former Serbian province, where the September 24 armed attack took place.

Revival of violence in northern Kosovo

In the latest violence, on September 24, a paramilitary force of several dozen men killed a Kosovo Albanian policeman and wounded another at a checkpoint near the village of Banska in northern Kosovo, a Serb-majority region.

Three members of the militant group, all Kosovo Serbs, were later killed and three others were arrested in an operation launched by the Kosovo Police Special Forces. Russia accused Kosovo of “bloodshed”.

Others ran away. The United States, Kosovo’s main international ally, warned on Friday of a “large-scale troop deployment by Serbia along the border with Kosovo,” calling on Serbia to “withdraw (its troops).”

At the time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić accused Washington of telling “untruths” without directly denying the presence of Serbian troops. He stated that the number of Serbian troops was much lower than the similar deployment in May.

The deployment of Serbian troops on the Kosovo border is reminiscent of Russia’s behavior before it invaded Ukraine, Kosovo’s foreign minister said Monday.

Read also:

• Kosovo says Serbia is behaving the same way Russia treated Ukraine before the invasion
• Washington asks Serbia to withdraw the troops gathered on the border with Kosovo
• Serbia has announced that it has reduced the number of soldiers on its border with Kosovo to “normal”.

You may also be interested in:

• The President of Serbia speaks about external support for “ethnic cleansing” in Kosovo / The European Commission threatens Serbia with sanctions
• Vučić: It is clear that Serbia has to pay a price for its independent policy
• Vucic: Kosovo will be in Serbia during my mandate, after that ask someone else
• Aleksandar Vučić: Serbia is not “surrendering”, will never recognize Kosovo, but “NATO is around us”