Nato on Saturday urged Kosovo to dial down tensions with Serbia, a day after its government forcibly accessed municipal buildings to install mayors in ethnic Serb areas in the north of the country. The resulting clashes on Friday between Kosovan police and protesters opposed to the ethnic Albanian mayors prompted Serbia to put its army on full combat alert and to move units closer to the border. “We urge the institutions in Kosovo to de-escalate immediately and call on all parties to resolve the situation through dialogue,” said Oana Lungescu, a spokeswoman for the transatlantic military alliance, in a Twitter post.
She said KFOR, the 3,800-strong NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, would remain vigilant. Things were still tense in the north part of the country where heavily armed police forces in armoured vehicles were guarding municipality buildings. Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti defended police actions in escorting the new mayors the previous day. “It is the right of those elected in democratic elections to assume office without threats or intimidation.