Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has issued an order the country’s army to be put on high alert, Deutsche Welle reported, citing the Serbian Defense Ministry. It is specified that this is related to the deployment of special police units in the northern part of Kosovo, near the border with Serbia, which Belgrade interprets it as a provocation.
Earlier, authorities in Pristina targeted special units at two border crossings to control the flow of cars entering Serbia from Kosovo. IN the region is inhabited mainly by ethnic Serbs, who do not recognize the Kosovo government led by ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo no longer allows cars with Serbian license plates, protests erupted at the border
Serbia has not allowed Kosovo numbers for years…
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The border police have the task of implementing the government’s agreement measure for entrants through border crossing points cars – those which have Serbian numbers, to replace them with temporary ones upon entering Kosovo.
Although the measure is reciprocal – Serbia has been following a similar practice for years to Kosovo cars entering its territory, hundreds of ethnic Serbs began protesting the demand to change the numbers of Serbian cars. They even used remittances to block traffic at border crossings.
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Borel calls on Kosovo, Serbia to de-escalate immediately “without additional conditions”
EU-mediated negotiations…
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The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell called on both sides to de-escalate and demanded that the special forces withdraw from the border. He said that “any further provocation or unilateral and uncoordinated action is unacceptable.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also called on both sides to exercise restraint and resumption of dialogue. He held telephone conversations with Serbian President Alexander Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday that Kosovo and Serbia should mutually recognize the license platesto ensure the free movement of people and goods and to relieve tensions at borders. Belgrade has not yet responded of this proposal.
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Bernabic called in his speech to the UN General Assembly, that the non-Albanian population in Kosovo is under constant attack. Belgrade is urging the international community to guarantee the rights of the Serb minority.
Serbia has launched a new national holiday last week with a demonstration of military power and called all Serbs in the Balkans to unite under one flag, causing unrest among its neighbors after similar calls led to bloody wars in the 1990s.
Through In 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, but Belgrade still does not recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty and considers the country its autonomous province.
In September 2012 Kosovo has gained full sovereignty by decision of the International Steering Group for Monitoring the Independence of the country.
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