The ambassadors of Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the United States of America and France have asked Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to dismantle the barriers erected in northern Kosovo and Metohija within 24 hours.
4 Western countries warn the president of Serbia and give him 24 hours to dismantle the barriers in northern Kosovo.
Western media reported that the ambassadors had sent a letter to the Serbian president with such a request, threatening at the same time that they would not interfere and would not hinder the attempts of the prime minister of (unrecognized) Kosovo, Albin Kurti, to act independent .
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had ordered his army commander to go to the border with Kosovo on Sunday night, as announced by General Milan Moiselovic himself, with the recent escalation of tensions between the two countries due to the ban on crossing at border crossings.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade refuses to recognize it, but urges the 120,000 Serbs living in Kosovo to challenge the authorities in Pristina.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic
On 10 December, hundreds of Serbs blocked roads in Serb-majority regions of northern Kosovo to protest the arrest of a former policeman, paralyzing traffic at two border crossings.
“The situation is difficult and complicated,” the Serbian army commander said in an interview with local channel “Pink TV” on Sunday.
“This requires, in the coming period, the presence of the Serbian army along the administrative line,” which is the term used by Belgrade to describe the border with Kosovo, he added.
The army chief said he was headed to Rasca, a town about 10 kilometers from the border with Kosovo, after meeting with Vucic in Belgrade.
Moiselovic emphasized that “the tasks entrusted to the Serbian army … are accurate and clear and will be fully implemented.”
Members of the NATO KFOR peacekeeping force on the Kosovo-Serbia border
Tensions flared between the two parties when Kosovo set a December 18 date for elections in Serb-majority municipalities, but the main Serbian political party announced its boycott.
And later, Kosovo authorities arrested a former policeman suspected of involvement in attacks on police officers of Albanian origin, which angered the Serbs, who resorted to banditry.
Shortly before Mošelović headed to the border area, several Serbian media outlets broadcast a video where gunfire could be heard on social media.
Media reported that a “clash” took place on Sunday night as Kosovar forces tried to dismantle a checkpoint.
But the Kosovo police rejected this accusation and denied in a post on “Facebook” the participation of its members in any confrontation.
Media in Pristina reported that a patrol from the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force was at the site of the shooting, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.
KFOR, which recently strengthened its presence in northern Kosovo, did not comment on the news.
In November, hundreds of Serbian police officers from the Kosovo Police, as well as judges, prosecutors and other workers went on strike to protest the decision to ban Serbs living in Kosovo from putting Serbian license plates on their cars.
However, despite Pristina suspending the implementation of the decision due to the anger it aroused, the strike of Serbian employees and policemen continued, creating a security vacuum in Kosovo.
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said last week that the situation with Kosovo was “on the verge of slipping into an armed conflict”.
