The United States and allies rebuked Kosovo for escalating tensions with Serbia on Friday, saying the use of force to install mayors in ethnic Serb areas undermined efforts to improve troubled relations with neighbouring Serbia.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic placed the army on full combat alert and ordered units to move closer to the border following clashes on Friday between Kosovan police and protesters opposed to the ethnic Albanian mayors.
In a statement, Blinken said Kosovo's actions went against U.S. and European advice and had "sharply and unnecessarily escalated tensions, undermining our efforts to help normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia and will have consequences for our bilateral relations with Kosovo."Kosovan authorities to step back and de-escalate the situation.
Serbs in Kosovo's northern region do not accept the 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, almost a decade after the end of a war there, and still see Belgrade as their capital. In a statement, the Kosovo police said five of its officers were slightly injured when protesters pelted them with rocks and other objects. Four police vehicles were attacked, including one that was set ablaze, the statement said. Gunfire was also heard in the area, it said.
The mayor in Zvecan was successfully escorted into the municipal building, a Reuters reporter heard on a police radio. Several vehicles from the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo were seen in the vicinity of the site of the incident, while helicopters flew over the area, a Reuters reporter said.
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