Russia and Ukraine flashpoint

[SecondWar]

Ryuu96 said:

Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.

Tensions are very high currently between Serbia and Kosovo, with reports of barricades going up in Serb areas of the province and clashes. It’s an evolving situation tonight but it’s possible that Serbia has upped the ante as part of a geopolitical move coordinated with Russia

— Mark Urban (@MarkUrban01) July 31, 2022

Tonight’s tension on the border between Serbia and Kosovo indicates that Russia may be considering other fronts; if the war in Ukraine is not going their way, they might stir up allies like Serbia to re-open old fault-lines. Worrying times for European leaders.

— Lindsey Hilsum (@lindseyhilsum) July 31, 2022

An MP from the Serbian Progressive Party, Serbia's largest party, wrote on Twitter earlier today that Serbia will be forced to begin the denazification of the Balkans but he follows up that denazification can be done through education, he is ranting a lot about denazification though. Of course, he is just one MP though and every country has their odd crazy bastard MP so he's probably Serbia's.

Will try to keep an eye on it but it's probably just sabre-rattling. There is a NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo and I doubt Serbia would do much to distract from Ukraine. I don't think NATO would have much issue backing Kosovo against a non-nuclear country either, not the slight reluctance they have in helping Ukraine too much in fear of provoking Russia cause they have nukes.

That could be more dangerous than it appears at first glance though as it could be a spillover conflict that ends up widening the scope of the War in Ukraine. The Nato force in Kosovo is small and would likely be bolstered if an attack was expected, but it would drag Nato into active conflict, particularly if Russia send some of it own forces to support Serbia. Also, would an attack in a Nato peacekeeping force trigger Article 5?

This is the sort of thing that would escalate into a World War.