The presidents of Kosovo and Serbia held talks on Thursday on resolving a political crisis that has spiralled into violence, with the leaders of France and Germany pressing them to take swift steps to reduce tensions. Kosovo’s Vjosa Osmani and Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic met briefly in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a summit in Moldova. The EU and the United States have expressed alarm at the latest in a long line of crises between Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian-dominated government and ethnic Serbs who are a majority in the north. Osmani accused the Serbian leader of „whining and complaining and… not telling the truth”. She said Kosovo could hold new elections in the north with Serb participation if they were triggered legally.
The EU and the United States have expressed alarm at the latest in a long-line of crises between Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian-dominated government and ethnic Serbs who are a majority in the north. The two leaders of Serbia and Montenegro, Vucic and Osmani, met at a summit in Oslo on Thursday. Vucic called for Kosovo authorities to withdraw „alleged mayors” from the north and declared the Kosovo special police units were there illegally.
Osmani accused Vucic of backing criminal gangs in northern Kosovo, an allegation Belgrade has denied. NATO decided to deploy 700 additional peacekeepers to Kosovo in response to the crisis and the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Thursday that it was ready to send more. “NATO will remain vigilant to ensure a safe and secure environment and to calm down and reduce tensions,” he said.
