BERLIN, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Serbia's troop deployment on Kosovo's border recalls Russia's behaviour towards Ukraine before its invasion, the Kosovar foreign minister said, urging the European Union to take action against Belgrade such as freezing its candidacy status.
"There has never been this kind of concentration of troops in recent years," Kosovar Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk in an interview on Monday.
She said it was not just the concentration of troops on the edge of its former southern province, whose independence Belgrade does not recognise, but also Serbia's rhetoric and its "methods" resembling Russian behaviour towards Ukraine.
Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a guerrilla uprising and 1999 NATO intervention, accuses Serbia of arming and supporting the Serb fighters.
Reporting by Sarah Marsh; editing by Miranda Murray and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Donika Gervalla, Schwarz, Aleksandar Vucic, Sarah Marsh, Miranda Murray, Mark Heinrich Our
Organizations:
Union, Belgrade, NATO, Kosovar, Deutschlandfunk, EU, Serbs, Thomson
Locations:
Ukraine, States, Kosovo, Belgrade, Serbian, Serbia