The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni at the summit of the European Political Community in Moldova met the Serbian President, Alexander Vucic. The Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, at the meeting of NATO diplomats in Oslo, recalled the crisis in Kosovo: “Everyone has insisted that dialogue between Vucic and Kurti can prevail“. From Oslo, the appeal of European countries to the Albanians to calm down and not to undermine the mayors in the municipalities where there have been clashes.
Bitoslavo reported in Il Giornale that there were fears of incidents on the ground due to the demonstration of the Albanians on the south side of the bridge that divides the two communities over the river Ibar. On the north bank is the Serbian stronghold of Mitrovica, a city separated by the waterway. Some demonstrators carried the KLA flag and wrote on social media: "we march towards the north", where, however, our carabinieri from the NATO KFOR mission were deployed, in anti-riot gear.
Kosovar premier Kurti does not want to give in to new elections and does not want to withdraw, for now, the ethnic Albanian mayors who have settled in municipalities with a strong Serbian majority. However, he told reporters that he is willing to call new elections in the municipalities with a Serbian majority in a few months, because he is aware that the current mayors were elected with very few votes given the boycott. Until then, Prime Minister Kurti remarked, they are full-fledged mayors. Another hot topic is the question of license plates because Kosovo wants the authority over all cars, while the Serbian minority still has Yugoslav license plates.
Kurti on the European reaction is direct in saying: “They must not cajole Vucic, being generous with him is a mistake: in March last year I was pressured to avoid putting him in trouble during his presidential campaign because Europe was convinced he would authorize sanctions against Russia. After the vote he didn't. And Russia does not accept that in Kosovo we combine democracy and economic development. So to our partners I say that we cannot agree on everything but I also say that my country must be treated fairly".
The Kosovar president, Vjosa Osmani, is even tougher: “we are facing such challenges because Serbia has continuously served as a satellite of Russia in our region, trying to destabilize Kosovo". "We should not allow this to happen, so coordination with our allies is key to achieving de-escalation together."