Stano: Failure to deescalate tensions will have consequences

BRUSSELS - Commenting on the latest developments in Kosovo-Metohija, European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano said on Monday the EU was conveying its position and its uneasiness "with this sequence of uncoordinated unilateral steps" to the Pristina authorities and that "failure by the parties to deescalate tensions will have consequences."

At a Brussels press briefing, Stano said the EU's aim was to hold a new round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue at chief negotiators' level as soon as possible, but did not give a potential date.

"There are a lot of issues on the table that need to be solved," he said.

The EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak has announced he would travel to Pristina to prepare the next Brussels meeting of chief negotiators.

Asked by Tanjug what steps the EU would take after Pristina's police raided the offices of Serbian institutions in the north of Kosovo-Metohija on Friday and denied the institutions' employees access to their workplaces on Monday morning, Stano responded:

"We consider this as a very unhelpful, yet another uncoordinated unilateral step that has the capacity to increase the tensions and lead to further escalation in an already volatile situation on the ground."

"And the European Union, what are we going to do? Of course, we are conveying our position and our uneasiness with this sequence of uncoordinated unilateral steps to the Kosovo authorities in Pristina, and I can only recall that we had European Council conclusions last year where the member states were very clear: failure by the parties to deescalate tensions will have consequences," he noted, adding that the EU had made its position clear in a statement released by its office in Pristina on Friday evening.

"The EU is disappointed about the continued lack of coordination with Kosovo’s security providers and with the international partners," the EU said in the statement, noting that Pristina's police operation "against Serbia-supported offices in North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic, conducted under instructions of the Government of Kosovo, puts the fragile security situation on the ground at risk."

"The EU wishes to reiterate that Kosovo has committed to de-escalate. The EU has repeatedly called on Kosovo to avoid any actions that could negatively impact the security of people on the ground. Unfortunately our calls have been disregarded by the Kosovo government.

EU would like to reiterate that the current operation by the police against the Serbia-supported offices might lead to further escalation of an already volatile situation.

Serbia-supported offices are foreseen to be addressed and resolved in the EU-facilitated Dialogue," it added.