EULEX chief: Recent elections in the north offer no long-term solution, parties to act prudently

EULEX chief Lars-Gunnar Wigemark has called on Kosovo and Serbia for prudent actions so that the situation does not move towards escalation.

These statements he made in an interview for Deutsche Welle, while added that the recent elections -- although held quietly -- do not represent long-term solutions.

Wigemark, reiterated the fact that this much mentioned sustainable solution can only be achieved through dialogue.

“We will call on all to act in a calm manner to avoid any threat of violence and to unscrew the situation that unfortunately yesterday came out of control”, Wigemark said among other things.

Groups of Serbian citizens crashed with the Kosovo Police on Friday, which said it was helping the new heads of Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviqi, in the country's north, enter their offices.

Police threw tear gas at the entrance of the Zvecan municipality to disperse the crowd, which threw fountains and stones on police members while setting a police vehicle on fire.

Internationals reacted sharply to developments in the north yesterday.

Secretary Blinken yesterday condemned Kosovo's actions, also calling on Prime Minister Albin Kurti to stop those measures immediately.

“We strongly want the actions of the Government of Kosovo that are escalating tensions in the north and increasing instability. We call on Prime Minister Albin Kurti to stop these violent measures immediately and to refocus on the EU facilitated dialogue”, Blinken wrote yesterday. While, before Blinken reacted, in Pristina the same warning response for Kosovo was made by Ambassador Jeff Hovenier. Then, on a line, other QUINT states reacted.