Belgrade-Pristina: A New Turn of Tension

In response to Serbia’s detention of the Kosovo police officers, Pristina banned cars with Serbian plates from crossing its border. The detention of three Kosovo police officers by Serbs has increased regional tensions. Belgrade and Pristina point different locations for detaining the police officers, and say they are illegally crossing into foreign territory. Serbian authorities claim that the police officers were detained more than one kilometer on Serbian territory near the village of Gnjilica and accuse Pristina of “inciting conflict”. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on social media that three police officers while being on duty were kidnapped in Kosovo territory adjacent to the border with Serbia. Kurti named the incident an international aggression and called for the immediate release of the police officers. In response to the arrests, Pristina banned cars with Serbian plates from crossing its border. A few hours earlier, protests had taken place in northern Mitrovica over the arrest of a Serb, who the Kosovo authorities believe was behind the attacks on NATO peacekeepers during last month’s unrest. Tensions in Kosovo flared anew after the ethnic Serb boycott of local elections to install ethnic Albanian mayors who were elected in a local election. On May 29, clashes between Serbs and Albanians resulted in dozens of casualties, including KFOR.