Stoltenberg meets Vucinqi: Avoid escalation of the situation, KFOR Ready in Case of Need

Secretary - General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has said Wednesday it is up to Belgrade and Pristina to avoid escalation of the situation.

He has made those statements after the meeting he held with Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, in Brussels.

Stoltenberg said the situation on the field has improved, though the mission NATO in Kosovo, KFOR, is monitoring the situation and is willing to intervene in the event of destabilising the situation.

Asked what the warning for NATO intervention means, Stoltenberg has said KFOR is in close contact with authorities in Belgrade and Pristina.

If there's a need, we'll move forces and increase our presence. We've already increased our presence north. We will act when needed, and proportionally”.

Stoltenberg has said that the fact that KFOR is NATO's largest military mission outside the alliance speaks of its commitment to preventing tensions.

Vuciq, on the other hand, has said Serbia respects KFOR's mission.

We talked about what happened. We don't need to look at the situation each time in perspective. We respect the KFOR mission and their announcement that night has affected the reduction of” tensions, Vuciq has said, referring to the declaration of the NATO mission on July 31st, that it is ready to intervene if the situation escalates in northern Kosovo.

Meetings at NATO headquarters come a day before Kurti and Vuciq, yes in Brussels, will meet to continue the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, mediated by the European Union.

As for dialogue in Brussels, Vuciq has seen the meeting as difficult.

“Peace and stability are very important for Serbia. I don't want to blame anyone. We'll have difficult discussions tomorrow, we don't agree on anything. We want to strengthen co-operation with KFOR and NATO, and we want to avoid any conflict. We believe we didn't make any kind of provocation”, Vucinic said among others.

Meetings at the European helm are held at the time of increasing tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, after 31 July and 1 August, local Serbs set up barricades in northern Kosovo to reject two executive decisions led by Kurti.

The first decision has to do with issuing the entry and exit document to all citizens of Serbia, once they enter Kosovo's territory. Such documents are released for Kosovo citizens for 11 years.