NATO welcomes Turkey's sending troops to Kosovo, EU calls on Pristina to suspend police operations in Serb areas

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Turkey's decision to send additional troops to Kosovo, while the European Union called on Pristina to suspend police operations in the north of the country, where tensions are rising as a result of protests by Serb locals.

Stoltenberg said – in a press conference on Sunday, after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul – that Turkey decided to provide the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo with military units, stressing the great importance of this contribution at a time of escalating tensions there.

He thanked Turkey for sending troops, noting its other contributions to Iraq, Ukraine and other countries.

NATO forces, known as KFOR, have been working on peacekeeping in Kosovo since the summer of 1999.

European invitations

The European Union called on Kosovo to suspend police operations in the northern part of the country, where tensions are rising as a result of protests by local Serbs.

The European Union added in a statement that it expects Kosovo to act in a non-escalatory manner, immediately suspending police operations around municipal buildings in northern Kosovo.

"Mayors must temporarily perform their duties in places other than municipal buildings, and early elections must be announced as soon as possible in the four municipalities and organized in an inclusive manner. We expect Kosovo Serbs to participate in these elections."

"The EU is ready to implement firm measures," the statement said, warning that failure to de-escalate tensions would lead to negative consequences.

The European Union also expressed concern that Serbia is putting its armed forces on high alert.

Since May 26, local Serbs in northern Kosovo have been staging protests to prevent newly elected Albanian mayors from entering municipal buildings to begin their duties.

Mayors took office after winning local elections in four municipalities, most of which are Serbs who largely boycotted the election, with only 4,1500 voters out of 45,<> registered voters taking part.

Albanian-dominated Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008, and Serbia still considers Kosovo part of its territory and supports a Serb minority.

In response to tensions in northern Kosovo, Serbia in late May ordered its army to advance to the border with Kosovo and urged NATO to stop violence against local Serbs.