Wed 03 August 2022:
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Serbian President Alexandar Vucic on Wednesday that the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR) is prepared to act if necessary.
In their phone conversation, the two addressed “tensions in northern Kosovo,” according to Stoltenberg’s tweet.
To “engage constructively in the EU-mediated dialogue and solve the differences through diplomacy,” he urged all parties.
“The KFOR stands ready to intervene if stability is jeopardized, based on its UN-mandate,” Stoltenberg added.
On Tuesday, Stoltenberg had a call with Albania’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and conveyed a similar message.
Tensions rose on Sunday ahead of a new Kosovar law supposed to take effect on Aug. 1, making it mandatory for everyone, including Serbs living in Kosovo, to have a Kosovo ID card and license plate.
Kosovo has now postponed for a month the implementation of the new border rules.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, with most UN member-states, including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Türkiye, recognizing it as an autonomous country.
The KFOR international peacekeeping mission has been operating in Kosovo since 1999.
The EU diplomatic service urged both sides to hold discussions in Brussels on Monday in order to resolve the conflict and avoid further ones as a result of the border tensions.
The EU-led Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, which was started in 2011, intends to normalize relations between the two Balkan nations and find a mutually agreed resolution to the conflicts within the framework of a binding agreement.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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