Kosovo’s troubles may not have come to a head, but the crisis still festers

A mural in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs seek greater autonomy from Pristina. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The signs this weekend suggest that the immediate crisis over Kosovo has been defused. Some Serbian troops are pulling back from the border, and the threat of a return to armed conflict has receded for now.

The Biden administration acted decisively on Friday, drawing on some of the lessons from the run-up to the Ukraine invasion, going public with US intelligence on Serbian troops movements, and calling Belgrade to threaten sanctions and ostracism. The Nato peacekeeping force, Kfor, was immediately reinforced by the transfer of command of a battalion of British troops who were in the region for training.