German Foreign Minister urges Serbia to make efforts to protect people in region

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Serbia's rhetoric allegedly exacerbated tensions around unrecognized Kosovo and called on Belgrade to make every effort to resolve the situation in the region, Report informs via TASS.

Baerbock made the statement in Brussels on Monday upon her arrival at the meeting of the EU Council at the level of foreign ministers.

"My strong appeal to Serbia is to do everything possible to protect the people in the region," emphasized the German Foreign Minister. At the same time, she added that ensuring the safety of people "is also the responsibility of the Serbian Government."

A new aggravation of the situation in the north of Kosovo occurred after the arrest on December 10 of a former policeman, an ethnically Serb Dejan Pantic. He was detained by the Kosovo police at the Jarine checkpoint on the administrative line between Kosovo and Metohija and Central Serbia. In response, the Serbian population blocked the passage along the highway with barricades in several settlements near the checkpoint and went out to protest. Thus, the Serbs wanted to prevent Pantic from being taken to Pristina. The patrols of the European Union Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), as well as employees of the International Mission under the auspices of NATO in Kosovo and Metohija (KFOR) were pulled to the barricades.

Subsequently, the prime minister of unrecognized Kosovo, Albin Kurti, demanded that the Serbs remove the barricades by the evening of December 11. Otherwise, he threatened to carry out an operation to remove the barriers with the involvement of the Kosovo police.