Serbia‘s ramping up of its military presence near the border with Kosovo sends the “wrong signal,” Berlin said Wednesday, urging Belgrade to dial down its “completely unacceptable” nationalistic rhetoric.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to recognise it and encouraged Kosovo’s 120,000 ethnic Serbs to defy Pristina’s authority — especially in the north where ethnic Serbs make up the majority.
The Serbian army was put on a heightened state of alert after Serbs in northern Kosovo set up barricades to protest against the arrest of an ex-policeman.
Berlin said it was “very concerned” by the escalating tensions in northern Kosovo, and urged Belgrade to help remove “illegal” barricades set up by Serbs in northern Kosovo.
“Nationalist rhetoric that we have heard from Serbia in the last few weeks is completely unacceptable,” added foreign ministry spokesman Christofer Burger.
“The heightened military presence near the Serbian border to Kosovo sends a completely wrong signal,” he added.
Serbs account for about 120,000 of Kosovo’s 1.8 million population, which is predominantly ethnic Albanians.
