Blinken talks to Kurti and Vucic about the situation in the north of Kosovo

2023-06-27 07:39:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has held separate telephone conversations with the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia, with whom he discussed the tensions in the north of Kosovo.

According to the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, he talked with the American diplomat about the situation in the north inhabited by Serb majority and about the new elections in the four northern municipalities.

The elections, according to Kurti, should be preceded by the rule of law, "for the violent extremists who attacked the KFOR soldiers, the Kosovo Police and journalists, for the three Serbian vice presidents in Leposavi?, Zve?an and the north of Mitrovica, for the confiscation of arming a lot of ammunition in a car with a Belgrade license plate, for the need for full, sequential and unconditional implementation of the Brussels Basic Agreement".

Earlier on June 26, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu?i?, also announced that he had spoken with Secretary Blinken.

Blinken has insisted on calming the situation in the north of Kosovo and has supported the European plan for expansion, said Vucic after the conversation with the American chief diplomat.

As Vucic said through a post on Instagram, during the conversation with Blinken, he requested the release of the Serbs arrested in the north of Kosovo.

"I told [Secretary Blinken] that Serbia behaves seriously and responsibly, but the special units of the Kosovo Police are arresting members of the Serbian community every day completely arbitrarily, and I asked for the release of all the arrested Serbs," said Vucic.

As reported, during the conversation with Blinken, Vucic emphasized that the resignation of the four new Albanian mayors in the municipalities in the north of Kosovo and the withdrawal of the special units of the Kosovo Police from the municipal buildings "are of key importance to reduce tensions".

This telephone conversation between Kurti and Vucic with Blinken comes amid diplomatic efforts by the international community to reduce tensions in the north of Kosovo.

The tensions in the north of Kosovo started on May 26, when the new Albanian mayors - of Zveçan, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok, municipalities inhabited by Serb majority - entered the municipal buildings with the assistance of the police.

Since then, Serbs have been holding protests.

The new presidents were elected on April 23, an election that was boycotted by the Serbian parties and population.

In recent days, the authorities in Kosovo have arrested several members of the Serbian community, under the suspicion that they participated in the violence against the soldiers of the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, and against the journalists who were reporting from the north.

Officials in Serbia and representatives of the Serbian List - the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo, which enjoys the support of Belgrade - consider these arrests arbitrary.

The international community is asking Kosovo to resolve the situation and has presented three demands: calming the situation in the north, holding new elections in the four northern municipalities and returning to the dialogue for the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations.

Meanwhile, official Belgrade is being asked to ensure that Serbs participate unconditionally in the eventual local elections./ Rel