Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday lifted the state of maximum alert he ordered two days ago for the Serbian army and police following the recent easing of tensions with Kosovo, Tanjug agency reported, citing EFE. and Agerpress.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić at the Batajnica military airport near BelgradePhoto: Darko Vojinovic / AP – The Associated Press / Profimedia

The announcement follows the removal of barricades that Kosovo Serbs have blocked for ten days on roads in northern Kosovo to protest what they say is increasing discrimination against Serbs by authorities in Pristina. The Kosovar minority in this province, which declared its independence in 2008.

With tensions between Belgrade and Pristina escalating in recent months, this Serb protest was sparked by the arrest by Pristina authorities of a former Serbian police officer from the Kosovo police.

By the decision of the court in Pristina, he was released from custody on Wednesday and placed under house arrest.

Aleksandar Vučić called for the removal of barricades in Kosovo

The government in Belgrade called on Serbs in northern Kosovo to remove barricades on Wednesday, while urging them to end protests against the executive in Pristina and assuring them that they would not be prosecuted.

“We have received assurances from the United States and the European Union that none of the Kosovo Serbs who participated in the protests and erected the barricades will be prosecuted or arrested,” said Petar Petkovic, head of the Serbian government office in Kosovo. press conference.

“We also received assurances that Kosovo security forces will not arrive in the Serb-populated north without the consent of the KFOR commander and representatives of the local population,” Petkovic said, referring to the NATO-led peacekeeping force.

Petković emphasized that President Aleksandar Vučić himself is asking the Serbs in the north to remove the barricades. On Tuesday, Vučić put the Serbian army on high alert.

But on Wednesday, the United States, NATO and the European Union urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint.

“We ask everyone to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate measures to unconditionally de-escalate the situation,” said a joint statement by the spokesperson of the US State Department and the representative of the European Union.