EU parliament urges Kosovo to withdraw police units from Serb municipalities

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - The rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament on Monday called on the Kosovo authorities to withdraw special police units from the northern municipalities populated by ethnic Serbs and sit down at the negotiating table.

Viola von Kramon at a press conference said that Kosovo is taking a lot of risks with maneuvers in the north as tensions between Belgrade and Pristina rose on Friday after police in Kosovo clashed with local Serbs who gathered in front of a municipal building to prevent the newly elected ethnic Albanian mayors from entering their office.

''We should have more confidence-building measures. Dialogue within Kosovo is the only way out of this situation...For example, the withdrawal of special police forces from the north to sit at the negotiating table. The involved parties should constructively engage in dialogue to resolve open issues,'' said von Kramon.

She called on the authorities in Kosovo to think about taking measures to build trust by the withdrawal of special police forces and coming to the negotiating table.

Kosovo Serbs protested again on Monday in front of the municipality buildings of Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavic in the northern Mitrovica District, trying to stop the Albanian mayors from entering the halls on the day of their swearing-in ceremonies.

Police and NATO-led Kosovo Forces (KFOR) fenced town halls and increased staff deployment in the area to avert any untoward incidents.

Last month, Kosovo Serbs boycotted extraordinary local government elections for four municipalities in the country's north. Only 3.47% of eligible voters cast ballots, according to the Kosovo Central Election Commission.

In another sign of heightened tensions, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic ordered the army and security forces to be combat-ready.

Kosovo Serbs on Saturday called on Vucic to suspend the ongoing dialogue process for normalizing relations with Kosovo.

Launched in 2011, the EU-led Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue aims to find a mutually agreeable solution for disputes in the framework of a legally binding agreement.

The EU requires Kosovo and Serbia to reach a final agreement and resolve disputes to progress in their integration into the bloc.

Most UN member states including the US, the UK, France, Germany and Türkiye recognized Kosovo as a separate country after it declared independence from Serbia 15 years ago. Serbia, however, continues to regard it as its territory.