NATO already has around 4,000 troops in Kosovo and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the decision to send more had been taken.
NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo are attacked by Serb nationalist protesters in northern Kosovo on May 29, 2023. Photo: Reuters
"We have decided to deploy an additional 700 soldiers from the operational reserve to the Western Balkans and put an additional reserve battalion on high alert so that they can also be deployed if needed," Stoltenberg told reporters in Oslo.
The United States and its allies have rebuked Kosovo for escalating tensions with Serbia, saying the use of force to appoint mayors in ethnic Serb areas has undermined efforts to improve troubled relations with neighbouring Serbia.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has put the army on combat alert and ordered units to move closer to the Kosovo border following recent clashes.
Kosovo Serbs refused to participate in local elections last April and ethnic Albanian candidates won mayoral elections in four Serb-majority cities, after an election in which voter turnout was just 3.5%.
The United States, which supports Kosovo's independence, has decided to cancel Kosovo's participation in a military exercise after it refused to withdraw mayors and police from Serb-inhabited areas. Overall, Albanians make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to find a way to de-escalate tensions. “We have had too much violence in Europe today, we cannot afford another conflict,” he said in Brussels.
Russia, which has close ties with Serbia, called on Tuesday for “decisive action” to quell the unrest. The Russian Foreign Ministry said “the West has finally had to shut up… and stop blaming the Serbs for the events in Kosovo”.
Kosovo's government blames Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for destabilizing Kosovo. Mr Vucic blames Kosovo's government for creating problems by appointing new mayors.
After meeting a group of ambassadors from major powers - including the US, Italy, France, Germany and the UK - in Belgrade, Mr Vucic said he had asked Albanian mayors to leave their offices in northern Kosovo.
Bui Huy (according to AFP, AP, Reuters)
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