EU to hold crisis talks with Serbia, Kosovo

 The European Union will hold crisis talks
on Thursday with the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo, as the bloc seeks to ease
the latest spike in tensions.

“I have called the leaders of Serbia & Kosovo to Brussels for urgent meetings
to find the way out of the current crisis,” the EU’s foreign affairs chief
Josep Borrell said.

“We need immediate de-escalation & new elections in the north with
participation of Kosovo Serbs. This is paramount for the region & EU,”
Borrell tweeted.

The latest flare-up between the two sides came over the detention last week
of three Kosovo police officers by Serbia after weeks of tension over
disputed elections in Serb-majority northern Kosovo.

Rioting by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo saw 30 NATO peacekeepers injured
in late May.

The EU had threatened Kosovo with political consequences such as suspending
high-level visits and financial cooperation if it does not reverse course on
the elections.

Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have persisted since a war in the late
1990s that drew NATO intervention against Belgrade.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to
recognise it.

Serbs in Kosovo remain largely loyal to Belgrade, especially in the north,
where they make up a majority and reject every move by Pristina to
consolidate its control over the region.

Serbia has long seen Kosovo as its spiritual and historical homeland, the
scene of pivotal battles over the centuries. It continues to host some of the
Serbian Orthodox Church’s most revered monasteries. (BSS/AFP)