Serbia: Washington calls for “immediate” release of three Kosovar police officers

Washington on Saturday called on Serbia to “immediately” and “unconditionally” release three Kosovar police officers. Detention intensified Tensions Between Belgrade and Pristina.

“The Wrong Reasons”

“We call on President (Aleksandar) Vucic and the Serbian government to immediately and unconditionally release the three Kosovar police officers who have been detained since June 14,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. “Their arrest and detention on false grounds has exacerbated an already tense situation,” he continued, calling on Serbia and Kosovo to resume talks under the EU.

Serbia announced on Wednesday that it had arrested three Kosovar police officers in military uniform armed with automatic weapons, GPS, maps and other equipment. Kosovar authorities called the incident smuggling and banned Serbian vehicles from crossing the border.

Fever outbreak

This is A new fever It comes after weeks of tension, in which thirty soldiers of the NATO-led force in Kosovo (Kfor) were wounded in May. During conflicts with Serbian demonstrators.

Serbia, backed by its Russian and Chinese allies, has never recognized independence declared by its former province in 2008, a decade after a deadly war between Serbian forces and Albanian separatist rebels.

Kosovo is home to 1.8 million people, the majority of whom are Albanians. The Serbian minority is largely loyal to Belgrade and refuses to recognize Pristina’s sovereignty. Some Kosovo Serbs are accused of being instrumentalized by Serbia. European diplomatic chief Josef Borrell has invited the Serbian president and Kosovo’s prime minister to visit Brussels next week.

(AFP)