Russia: Kosovo becoming training camp for Syrian rebels

Russia has raised alarm over reports that the Serbian breakaway territory of Kosovo is being used a training base for Syrian rebels.

A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry on Twitter said Kosovo was becoming an "international militant training base," adding that it was destabilizing "the Balkans and beyond."

An Associated Press report last month said that opposition Syrian activists had turned to Kosovar rebels-turned-politicians for advice on the best way to unseat Syrian President Bashar Assad.

A number of Syrians visited the state, meeting Kosovar figures and getting advice on the insurgency, the report said.

Then earlier this month Russian state media said a delegation of Syrian rebels had made a deal with Kosovar authorities to allow rebel fighters to be trained in the country.

The Foreign Ministry statement also called on international agencies "to prevent the region turning into an international militant training base."

Media reports on #Syrian militants being trained in #Kosovo cannot fail to cause concern

— MFA Russia (@MFA_Russia) May 14, 2012

#Kosovo’s transformation into an international militant training base could become a serious destabilising factor, in the Balkans and beyond

— MFA Russia (@MFA_Russia) May 14, 2012

Russia calls on international missions in #Kosovo to prevent the region turning into an international militant training base

— MFA Russia (@MFA_Russia) May 14, 2012

Russia, which does not recognize Kosovo's 2008 independence declaration, has remained a strong ally of the Syrian president, but has implored Assad to adhere to a UN peace plan and implement reforms designed at ending the 14-month-old crisis.

Moscow is also a traditional ally of Serbia and has refused to recognize Kosovo's independence, and has blocked the disputed territory's entry into the UN.

(Al-Akhbar)