(United Nations) The UN expressed concern on Monday about the climate of “mutual suspicion” in Kosovo, calling for “de-escalation measures” between Belgrade and Pristina, whose representatives accused each other of being responsible for the deterioration of the situation .
Tensions have been extremely high between Kosovo and Serbia since the death on September 24 of a Kosovar police officer killed in an ambush. He was reportedly shot dead by a paramilitary commando composed of Kosovo Serbs.
“The major events of September 24 exacerbated a security environment which was already deteriorating, marked by an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and contradictory perceptions, particularly in northern Kosovo,” the head of the UN mission told the Security Council. United Nations in Kosovo Caroline Ziadeh, calling for “dialogue” to break the “political impasse”.
“De-escalation measures are crucial to reduce tensions,” she insisted, noting her “hope” after the meetings organized this weekend by the Americans and Europeans in Belgrade and Pristina.
In particular, she called for the establishment “without delay or preconditions” of the association of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo.
In these predominantly Serb towns of northern Kosovo, Serbian voters boycotted the last vote, leading to the election of Albanian mayors – with less than 4% turnout. Their inauguration had degenerated into a riot in the spring.
“The community of Serbian municipalities is an inevitable element on which the establishment of any other agreement depends,” insisted Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic before the UN Security Council, also bringing the responsibility to Pristina. responsibility for the events of September 24.
They are “the logical consequence, unfortunately, of the reign of fear and terror imposed by Pristina despite calls for de-escalation from the international community,” she said, describing a “silent campaign of ethnic cleansing.”
Words echoed by the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, accusing Belgrade of “ethnic cleansing by administrative means” in Serbia and “sending the region back to the 1990s”.
“What happened on September 24 was not just an attack on Kosovo, it was a plan to destabilize the Western Balkans,” she said.
Kosovo, 1.8 million inhabitants including 120,000 Serbs, declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 – something Belgrade never accepted. And the question remains obsessive for some Serbs, who consider the territory as their national and religious cradle.