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EU in Close Contact With Kosovar, Serbian Leaders, Calls for Deescalation: Borrell

© AP Photo / Jean-Francois BadiasEuropean Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell delivers his speech during a debate on Russia's war against Ukraine, at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022 in Strasbourg, eastern France.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell delivers his speech during a debate on Russia's war against Ukraine, at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022 in Strasbourg, eastern France.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.12.2022
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that he and EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak are in close contact with Kosovar and Serbian leaders, urging them to deescalate tensions.
"I know that two parties are willing to deescalate and I am strongly calling to the two of them to do it, but in this case I am in touch with [Kosovo's] Prime Minister [Albin] Kurti, Miroslav Lajcak is in touch with President [Aleskandar] Vucic in Serbia," Borrell said on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
The top EU diplomat urged Vucic and Kurti to prioritize dialogue over escalation.
"That is not a way for looking for an agreement, it is not a way to continue the talks, it is not a way to look for solutions, it is not a way to look to the normalization process in which they are engaged," Borrell added.
On Sunday, Kurti urged the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) to dismantle road barricades erected by local Serbs in the north of the breakaway region. If KFOR refuses to step in, Kosovo's own security forces will be ready to carry out this operation themselves, Kurti said.
Following Kurti's decision, Vucic held a Security Council meeting and accused Kosovo of violating the existing agreements.
Serbs in the northern part of Kosovo began setting up barricades on Saturday in protest against the arrest of Dejan Pantic, a former police officer in Kosovo who quit his post in mid-November and was arrested by the Kosovar authorities at the Jarinje border crossing on suspicion of "terrorism."
On Saturday evening, Vucic said in an address to the nation that Belgrade would send a formal request to the KFOR mission command for permission to deploy the Serbian military and police in Kosovo. He also showed photos of Kosovar soldiers in heavy equipment and with automatic weapons in the north of the region near the border with Serbia. Vucic recalled that according to the agreements reached earlier, special police forces can only be deployed to the Serb-majority municipalities with the authorization of regional heads.
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