The European Union urged Kosovo and Serbia to exercise restraint following the escalation of tensions over new border regulations announced by Pristina, calling on the two sides to continue their talks in Brussels.
At a press conference in Brussels, the European Union's spokesman for foreign affairs, Peter Stano, called on all parties to "remain calm."
"The uncoordinated and unilateral measures that threaten stability and security on the ground, and impede the freedom of movement of all citizens, need to stop immediately," Stano said.
Tensions escalated between Serbia and Kosovo on Sunday, a day before a law announced by the Kosovo government entered into force.
The law requires everyone, including Serbs living in Kosovo, to obtain an identity card issued by the Kosovar authorities and to change license plates for cars coming from neighboring Serbia to plates issued by Kosovo, prompting protests by residents of the Serb minority in northern Kosovo and blocking roads near border crossings. Chief, according to the Kosovo Police.
Kosovo retracted the implementation of the law, and postponed its implementation for a month in order to calm the situation.
Stano called on the governments of the two countries to meet in Brussels to discuss "ways to move forward to find solutions and prevent such tensions from erupting again."
He explained that the dialogue supervised by the European Union is necessary "to address all open issues between Serbia and Kosovo," stressing that this "is necessary for the two countries' path towards joining the European Union."
It is noteworthy that Kosovo, whose majority population is Albanian, separated from Serbia in 1999 and declared its independence from it in 2008, but Belgrade still considers it part of its territory, and supports a Serb minority in Kosovo.
On April 19, 2013, Serbia and Kosovo signed an agreement to normalize relations between the two countries, which was described as historic.