NATO called on both sides to negotiate as “the only path to lasting peace.”
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The United States said on Monday that any withdrawal of Serbian soldiers from the border with Kosovo would be a “welcome measure” after Belgrade announced it had reduced troop levels “to normal levels.”
“We are waiting for confirmation of this. But if it is true, it would be a welcome step,” said Matthew Miller, spokesman for the US State Department.
“We remain concerned about the cycle of increasing tensions and sporadic violence in northern Kosovo and encourage both parties to resume dialogue sponsored by the European Union,” he added.
Serbia refuses to recognize the independence of Kosovo, its former southern province.
Between 1998 and 1999, rebels from Kosovo’s Albanian majority fought a war of independence against Serbian forces that ended after a NATO bombing raid.
Tensions have increased in northern Kosovo, where around 120,000 Kosovo Serbs live.
On September 24, a Kosovar Albanian police officer was killed in an ambush in an area where the majority of Serbs live in several towns.
There was a shootout between Kosovo special forces and a heavily armed unit of Kosovo Serbs. Three of them were killed and three others were arrested. Others fled.
According to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, this incident – one of the most serious escalations in Kosovo in recent years – was part of a “larger plan to annex northern Kosovo through a coordinated attack” on numerous positions.
On Monday he claimed that there were plans to “establish a corridor to Serbia” to “enable the supply of weapons and troops.”
Also on Monday, Serbian leaders announced that they had reduced the number of troops along the Kosovo border, which they called the “administrative line.”
The Serbian army has reduced its soldier contingent from 8,350 to 4,500, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Milan Mojsilovic said, three days after the US warned of a “large military operation”.
On Sunday, NATO announced that it would strengthen its presence in Kosovo with 600 British soldiers.
Its peacekeeping force – known as KFOR – consists of around 4,500 soldiers from 27 countries.
The US-led military alliance again called for calm on Sunday and demanded that Belgrade and Pristina return to dialogue as soon as possible.
This is “the only way to achieve lasting peace,” said a NATO spokesman.
In the latest outbreak of violence in the region on September 24, a paramilitary unit consisting of several dozen men killed one Kosovar Albanian police officer and injured another at a checkpoint near the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo.
Supported by Belgrade, they reject the government in Pristina.
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On the same day of the attack, Kosovo authorities claimed that Serbia was behind the heavily armed group – which Serbian authorities denied.
The US, Kosovo’s main international ally, called on Serbia to “withdraw”. [its] Troops” from the border on Friday.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused Washington of lying, without explicitly denying the presence of Serbian soldiers.
He said the number of Serbian troops was significantly lower than during a similar operation in May.
General Mojsilovic claimed he was “surprised” by the “deep concern expressed by some” over the use of Serbian forces during this latest “security crisis”.
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According to him, the Serbian army deployed around “14,000 soldiers” in the same region between December 2022 and May 2023 during “similar security crises”.
The Serbian armed forces were then placed “on the highest alert level,” which was not the case last week, Mojsilovic emphasized.