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USA, United Kingdom and Germany: Immediately release the three Kosovar policemen

2023-06-16 22:33:32, Kosova & Bota CNA

The United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom and Germany have called for the release of three Kosovo border policemen, whom the Kosovo authorities claim were abducted inside the territory of Kosovo by Serbian forces.

The authorities in Serbia say that they were "deep" in their territory when they were arrested.

The American envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, told reporters on Friday that they followed "the case of the arrest of three Kosovo policemen".

"There are two scenarios, one that they were kidnapped from within the territory of Kosovo and sent to Serbia, or they inadvertently crossed the border where they found themselves inside the territory of Serbia. In any case, it is clear that these policemen had no intention of being in Serbia and they should be released," Escobar stressed.

The ambassador of the United Kingdom in Kosovo, Nicholas Abbot, through a Twitter post, said that his country calls "for the immediate release of the three Kosovar police officers, arrested on June 14".

"We call on Kosovo and Serbia to exercise maximum restraint, avoid unilateral measures and take immediate steps to reduce tensions."

The United Kingdom has repeated calls to Prime Minister Kurti for the mayors of the four northern municipalities to exercise their duties from alternative facilities and for the special unit of the Kosovo Police to leave the buildings of the municipalities in the north. Also, new elections and the establishment of the Association were requested.

The Foreign Minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, has called on Serbia and Kosovo "to do everything possible to calm the situation on the border".

"This includes the unconditional release of three Kosovar policemen. People in both countries need perspectives that conflict has held back for too long," Baerbok wrote on Twitter.

The Government of Kosovo believes that the Serbian authorities, according to it, "kidnapped" the three policemen, due to the arrest of Serb Millun Millenkovic by the Kosovo Police, on June 13, on suspicion of having organized violence against members of the NATO mission. KFOR, in the north of Kosovo.

This area, inhabited by a majority of Serbs, has been tense since the end of May, when the Kosovo Police helped the Albanian mayors of the municipalities there to enter their facilities, despite the resistance of the local residents.

These facilities are also used by Serbian parallel structures.

Tensions culminated on May 29, when Serbian protesters clashed with KFOR soldiers. Dozens of injuries were reported on both sides.

The international community asks Kosovo to immediately escalate the situation, namely withdraw the special police units from the north, organize new local elections and return to dialogue with Serbia.

Official Belgrade, on the other hand, is required to ensure the unconditional participation of Serbs in possible local elections.

The extraordinary elections of April, from which the Albanian presidents emerged, were boycotted by the Serbian community./ REL