The situation in the north of Kosovo is calm, the EU and the USA have increased the pressure on Belgrade and Pristina to overcome the crisis

In the municipalities of Zubin Potok, Zvecan and Leposavic, the night passed peacefully, and as of this morning, the seventh day of the crisis in those three municipalities in the north of Kosovo, the citizens are gathering again demanding the withdrawal of the Albanian mayors from the municipal buildings and the withdrawal of the Kosovo special units. The employees of the municipality of Zvečan are still registered in an improvised list placed on a table in front of the fence erected by Kfor, whose members are at the approach to the municipal building. Since last Friday, employees have been forbidden to come to work in the building of the municipality of Zvechan, where special police units are still located.

KFOR is still deployed at the main intersection in Zvechan, as well as at four other places to prevent any provocation.

The EU and the US presented the authorities in Pristina with several demands to calm the situation in northern Kosovo, including holding new elections and establishing a Community of Serbian Municipalities.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, after a conversation with a representative of the White House, said that he is ready to hold new elections on the condition that the Kosovo Serbs stop the protests.

Tensions rose in northern Kosovo last Friday when Kosovo Serbs tried to prevent newly elected Kosovo Albanian mayors from entering municipal buildings and taking up their duties in the predominantly Serb municipalities. Kosovo police then used tear gas to disperse the crowd and let the new employees into the offices. Clashes broke out on Monday between protesters, police and NATO peacekeepers KFOR Kosovo, injuring around 30 KFOR soldiers and around 50 Kosovo Serbs. Kosovo Serbs boycotted local elections in April, and Albanian candidates won elections in four municipalities with a dominant Serb population – Zvečan, Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Severna Mitrovica.

The EU's high representative for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, last night increased the pressure on the Kosovo authorities to take measures to de-escalate tensions.

We have three clear demands – new elections immediately, ensuring the participation of Kosovo Serbs, starting the creation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities. Failure to respect them will have serious consequences for our relations, Borrell wrote on Twitter.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met briefly last night in the presence of Borel, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Moldova.

Macron called for new elections to be held as soon as possible in the four municipalities in northern Kosovo, populated mostly by Serbs. Macron said he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had asked for clear decisions by next week.

Kurti conditioned the holding of new elections in the municipalities of the north of Kosovo with the end of, as he stated, the "violent protests in front of the municipalities in the north" and the full implementation of the Brussels Agreement. Kurti made the announcement on Twitter after speaking by phone with US Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finner and US Senators Chris Murphy, Pete Ricketts and Gene Shaheen.

"The removal of violent crowds in front of municipal buildings and the full implementation of the Brussels Agreement is the path to de-escalation, to new elections," Kurti wrote.

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