NATO’s mission in Kosovo, KFOR, rejected a request by the Serbian government to send up to 1,000 soldiers and police to Kosovo after a wave of clashes between Serbs and Kosovo authorities, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

“They (KFOR) replied that there is no need to return the Serbian army to Kosovo (…) referring to the UN resolution that approves their mandate in Kosovo,” Vucic said in an interview with the private TV channel Pink.

Last month, for the first time since the end of the 1998-1999 war, Serbia asked to deploy troops to Kosovo amid clashes between the Kosovo government and the Serb-majority north of Kosovo.

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The UN Security Council resolution stipulates that Serbia may be allowed, with the consent of KFOR, to station personnel at border crossings, Christian-Orthodox points of departure and areas with a Serb majority.

Vucic criticized KFOR for notifying Serbia of its decision on the eve of the Old-style Orthodox Christmas, after Kosovo police arrested a soldier suspected of shooting and wounding two young Serbs near the town of Shterpce.

The Kosovo authorities condemned the incident.

The police reported that the victims, 11 and 21 years old, respectively, were taken to the hospital, but their lives are not in danger.

Serbian media reported that another young man was allegedly attacked and beaten by a group of Albanians on Saturday after returning from a Christmas service.

Serbian officials called the incidents “terrorist attacks,” proving that Serbs are not needed in Kosovo, and announced protests in Shterpet on Sunday.

International organizations have condemned the attacks, which are expected to deepen mistrust between the Albanian majority and the roughly 100,000 ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo. (Source: Agrerpres)