image copyright Reuters
The United States and the European Union called on both Kosovo and Serbia to “exercise restraint”, amid escalating tensions in northern Kosovo.
A joint statement urged Pristina and Belgrade to refrain from provocation and threats between them.
“We call on each party to exercise the highest degree of restraint, act immediately to de-escalate without conditions, and refrain from provocation and threats,” the statement said.
Kosovo police closed the most important border crossing to Serbia, after setting up barriers on the Serbian side of it.
Serbs have been blocking roads in northern Kosovo for weeks, in protests that began over a dispute over car numbering.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said it was time for peacekeepers, led by NATO, to remove those barriers.
NATO Mission in Kosovo said it supports dialogue between all parties to defuse tension.
Serbia has put its army on high alert.
The Kremlin denied the accusation of inciting Serbs to destabilize Kosovo, saying that what Serbia is doing is merely defending the rights of Serbs.
image copyright Reuters
Serb trucks block roads in northern Kosovo
A former policeman of Serbian origin, whose arrest sparked a protest by the Serb minority in Kosovo, will be released to house arrest, at the request of the Public Prosecutor, according to a statement made by a spokesman for the Pristina Court of First Instance to Reuters.
Dejan Pantek was arrested on 10 December for assaulting a policeman on duty, and since then there have been confrontations between Serbs and the police.
The court’s decision angered Kosovo officials, including Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Justice Minister Albolina Hajiu.
“I don’t know, and I don’t understand, how a man accused of such a serious crime related to terrorism could be put under house arrest,” Hagio said.
“I want to know who is the prosecutor who made this request, and who is the judge who approved it, in the trial proceedings,” Curti said.
Pantik was among many Serbs who left their posts in the police and other institutions after Pristina said it would implement a law requiring Serbs to give up car number plates issued before the 1998-1999 war that led to Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
Two crossings between Kosovo and Serbia were closed on December 10, while the third, the largest, through which goods trucks enter, was closed on Wednesday. This disrupted the return of Kosovo residents who work in other European countries to their country for the holiday.
Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Jalal Svikla, said that Serbia wants to destabilize his country, while Serbia says it defends the rights of the Serb minority there.
The 50,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo refuse to recognize the government in Pristina, nor Kosovo as an independent state. They are supported in their position by many Serbs in Serbia, as well as by their government.