The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, are expected to meet soon in Brussels, as a result of the escalating tensions in the north of the country.
For this meeting, the two leaders of Kosovo and Serbia have been invited by the European Union.
Peter Stano, the spokesperson of the EU for foreign policy, stated that the High Representative, Josep Borrell, has invited them to come to Brussels. “We will give the exact date when it is set,” said Stano.

Stano did not comment on the situation in the north, where there have been bombings and attacks on the Police. Borrell has announced an invitation to the two leaders from November 23, after Kosovo and Serbia have reached an agreement on the license plate issue.

Kosovo has agreed to suspend its plan to re-register cars with Serbian license plates in the RKS – Republic of Kosovo, while Serbia has pledged not to issue new license plates to Serbs in the north. However, the situation in the north of Kosovo escalated on December 6 after some groups of Serbian citizens prevented the entry of officials of the Central Electoral Commission into the offices of this institution in the north, in order to prepare for elections, and thus caused incidents with firearms.

Such incidents have been reported in Zubin Potok and North Mitrovica, municipalities with a Serbian majority in the north of Kosovo.

A day later, in North Mitrovica, two explosions with a bomb were reported.

The elections for the northern municipalities – North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposaviq and Zveçan have been scheduled for December 18, after their mayors have resigned as a sign of dissatisfaction with the decision of the Government of Kosovo on license plates. In addition to them, local Serbs have also been withdrawn from Kosovo’s institutions at the central and local level, including the Kosovo Police and the judiciary.

Lista Serbe – the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo, which with the support of official Belgrade led these municipalities – opposes these elections.

The United States has assessed that, currently, there are no conditions for holding elections in the north of Kosovo on December 18.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has said that with the intensification of attacks in the north, there will be an increased presence of the police in this part of the country.

Kosovo authorities have accused “criminal groups” of attacks in the north, saying they are “paid and directed by Serbia” for incidents in northern Kosovo.

Kosovo and Serbia have started negotiations for the normalization of relations in 2011, with the mediation of the European Union.

The negotiation process is expected to end with legally binding agreements. Although Kosovo declares that this agreement should include mutual recognition, Serbia does not accept, insisting on a “compromise solution”.

/k.s/