ZVECAN, Kosovo In the densely forested mountains along the contested frontier between Serbia and Kosovo, a patrol of U.S. soldiers under NATO command trudged through snow and mud, keeping an eye out for smugglers or anyone else trying to cross the border. Given the bloody legacy of this area, the situation is quiet now, at least up here.

It is down below, in Serbia and Kosovo, where old angers are resurfacing as the Balkan region that spawned so much suffering over the last century is again becoming dangerously restive. And once again, Russia is stoking tensions, as it seeks to exploit political fissures in an area that was once viewed as a triumph of muscular U.S. diplomacy but that now underscores the growing challenges facing NATO and the European Union.

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Original post:

Russia stirs friction in Balkans as NATO keeps uneasy peace - Santa Fe New Mexican