The EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Kosovo on December 12, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said upon arrival at a meeting of the EU Council at the level of foreign ministers, Report informs referring to TASS.
“We thought we had reached an agreement (during negotiations in Brussels in October-November), but the Kosovo Serbs responded to the arrest of a former Kosovo Serb police officer with riots in the streets, blocking roads, they even threw shock grenades at our police officers (members of the EU mission). This is unacceptable, I know that both sides are striving for de-escalation, and I urge them to do this, but you need to understand that clashes in the streets and violations of public order do not lead to [reaching] agreements, normalizing the situation,” he said.
A fresh aggravation of the situation in the north of Kosovo occurred after the arrest on December 10 of a former policeman, Serb Dejan Pantic. He was detained by the Kosovo police at the Yarine checkpoint on the administrative line between Kosovo and Metohija and Central Serbia. In response, the Serbian population blocked the passage along the highway with barricades in several settlements near the checkpoint and went out to protest. In this way the Serbs wanted to prevent Pantic from being taken to Pristina. Patrols of the EU Mission in Kosovo, as well as employees of the International Mission under the auspices of NATO in Kosovo and Metohija, were pulled to the barricades.
Subsequently, the prime minister of the unrecognized Kosovo, Albin Kurti, demanded that the Serbs remove the barricades by the evening of December 11. Otherwise, he threatened to carry out an operation to remove the barriers with the involvement of the Kosovo police.