EU, US call for ‘maximum restraint’ over Serbia-Kosovo tensions
The European Union and the United States urged Pristina and Belgrade to de-escalate tensions.
Pristina and Belgrade should “refrain from provocations, threats or intimidation” over rising tensions in Northern Kosovo, the European Union and the United States wrote in a joint statement Wednesday.
“We call on everyone to exercise maximum restraint (and) to take immediate action to unconditionally de-escalate the situation,” the statement reads.
EU and U.S. diplomats are working with both governments to “find a political solution in order to defuse the tensions and agree on the way forward in the interest of stability, safety and well-being of all local communities,” according to the same statement, which comes from the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the U.S. State Department.
The U.S.-EU joint announcement comes just a few hours after Moscow, a close ally to Serbia, said it “support(ed) Belgrade in the actions that are being taken,” in a statement from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov to the press, reported by Agence France-Presse.
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo — a former Serbian province that declared its independence in 2008, which Belgrade does not recognize — have escalated in the past week.
On Monday, Serbian Defense Minister Miloš Vučević announced the Serbian army had been placed in its “highest level of combat readiness” following unverified reports that Kosovar police forces had opened fire on ethnic Serbs in Northern Kosovo. Authorities denied the incident.
“We call on everyone to exercise maximum restraint (and) to take immediate action to unconditionally de-escalate the situation,” the statement reads.
EU and U.S. diplomats are working with both governments to “find a political solution in order to defuse the tensions and agree on the way forward in the interest of stability, safety and well-being of all local communities,” according to the same statement, which comes from the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the U.S. State Department.
The U.S.-EU joint announcement comes just a few hours after Moscow, a close ally to Serbia, said it “support(ed) Belgrade in the actions that are being taken,” in a statement from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov to the press, reported by Agence France-Presse.
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo — a former Serbian province that declared its independence in 2008, which Belgrade does not recognize — have escalated in the past week.
On Monday, Serbian Defense Minister Miloš Vučević announced the Serbian army had been placed in its “highest level of combat readiness” following unverified reports that Kosovar police forces had opened fire on ethnic Serbs in Northern Kosovo. Authorities denied the incident.
