The European Commission announced - today, Saturday - that the European Union is concerned about security developments in northern Kosovo, after the authorities deployed security units in a move that angered Serbs.
European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said, "We certainly condemn all attacks and violent incidents. The European Union and its members call for responsibility and de-escalation because it is necessary, especially for the sake of the citizens there."
He added that each of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo and NATO's Kosovo Force have their roles to provide the second or third level of protection, and made it clear that the alliance is closely patrolling and monitoring the situation.
On Thursday, Kosovo began deploying more police units in the north of the country, in light of the escalation of tensions between the Serbs and the Pristina government.
The Serbian authorities criticized the Kosovo government's move, considering it an attempt to invade the northern regions of the country inhabited by Kosovo Serbs, and that it constitutes a violation of the Brussels Agreement.
Tensions mount
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that her country will demand the return of its armed elements to Kosovo, according to United Nations Resolution 1244.
On Tuesday, explosions and sirens were heard in the cities in northern Kosovo, ahead of early elections scheduled for December 18 in 4 municipalities in Kosovo.
Tensions escalated at the end of last July between the two neighboring countries, following the entry into force of a law announced by the Kosovo government, before retracting and postponing its entry into force for a month in order to calm the situation.
The law requires everyone, including Serbs, living in Kosovo to obtain an identity card issued by the country, and to exchange license plates for cars from neighboring Serbia with Kosovo plates.
Kosovo - whose majority population is Albanian - seceded 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 living in Kosovo.