Hungarian-Serbian Cooperation in Kosovo is Proof That Hungarians Cannot Be Trusted!

By: Dean Džebić

During the clashes between masked members of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs) and KFOR forces in Zvečan in May this year, an almost unrealistic conflict within KFOR passed completely under the radar.

According to our source from Kosovo, during their stay in Kosovo, the Hungarian contingent showed bias towards demonstrators or local gatherings at barricades several times. However, never as clearly and unequivocally as when the Hungarian contingent, in the midst of a fierce and organized attack by masked police officers from Serbia, attacked the Italian contingent, even though they had formed a police cordon together to disperse the demonstrations.

Namely, the gathered demonstrators in front of the Zvečan municipality were initially monitored only by KFOR scouts who assessed the seriousness of the gathering. Then, Italian and Hungarian soldiers jointly entered the field in a cordon, attempting to manage the situation, while American officers coordinated support with communication devices nearby. In the formed KFOR cordon that began to disperse the demonstrations, Italian and Hungarian soldiers were attacked by undercover police officers from special police units, who would later be identified by Kosovo security forces.

At one point, the Hungarian part of the cordon exposed the flank of the Italian part of the cordon (!), practically abandoning it and retreating to the rear, while demonstrators attacked them. In fact, at that moment, Italian soldiers were attacked from two sides and suffered the most severe casualties. It is also suggestive that, as if by magic, Hungarian batons fell into the hands of the demonstrators. So, in that chaos, Serbian demonstrators beat Italian soldiers with Hungarian batons. Admittedly, the Hungarian assistance was not reciprocated, given that three Hungarian soldiers were lightly wounded by firearms, two of whom had their legs amputated.

It was then that an additional escalation began when Italian and Hungarian soldiers clashed behind the lines, and even in that conflict, there were injuries. At that moment, an American officer decided to call for help, which in Kosovo, according to some historical trends, always seems to be Turkey. Several witnesses state that when about 400 members of the Turkish contingent from KFOR appeared, the demonstrators fled in disarray.

Involvement of Serbian extremists in institutions

The role of the Hungarian contingent in Kosovo has mainly been focused on securing civilian locations and facilities important for public administration. During the events in Zvečan, a similar group, with a similar purpose and composition, was gathered in front of the Leposavić municipality, which was secured by Hungarian soldiers.

At one point, during the shift change with their American colleagues who came to further secure the entrance to the building, the Hungarian soldiers abruptly withdrew, and the crowd entered the municipality. Given that Kosovo forces, along with the Americans, successfully localized the situation and expelled the demonstrators, it left a bitter feeling of distrust towards their Hungarian colleagues once again.

Hungarian Command of EUFOR

According to the statement of the Hungarian Minister of Defense, the decision to take over command of the "Althea" operation is final. As expected, the Austrian contingent is withdrawing due to a series of reasons for which no one has the right to blame them.

So, we are talking about a country that, since 2008, has invested the most in the entire mission, both in personnel and equipment. Although militarily neutral and, along with Switzerland, the only country that meets the legal, military, and political conditions of military neutrality, Austria is quite stingy in investing in its armed forces. On the other hand, engagement in BiH certainly costs and requires investment, so from a financial perspective, withdrawal was more than likely.

Now Hungary is taking over this role, likely the central neuralgic point of Central Europe and the European Union. Intentionally not NATO, because the structure there is significantly more coherent and capable of outvoting certain noises coming from several countries where things are not going well.

And the question is how well things will go for Bosnia and Herzegovina when the head of Operation Althea is the Hungarian Major General László Sticz. Perhaps things won't go well, but batons might flourish, and we'll see in whose hands they end up.