Kosovo

Serbia and Kosovo have stepped back from the brink of violence after ethnic Serbs began dismantling some 10 roadblocks in northern Kosovo on Thursday (29 December).

The NATO-led international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR) has received Belgrade's request to return police and military forces from Serbia to Kosovo, RFE/RL confirmed on December 16.

Three main Kosovo leaders have signed the application for EU membership, a process which is not expected to go smoothly because of political complications stemming from five EU members not yet recognising its independence.

Through a strengthened presence in the northern part of Kosovo, in coordination with the Kosovo Police and KFOR, EULEX is trying to calm the local population, EULEX announced.

After a series of violent attacks on election premises in the North, aimed at preventing elections from taking place there on December 18, PM Albin Kurti vowed to increase police numbers in the area.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti on November 24 defended a late-hour deal with Serbia to avert a crisis and possible ethnic violence over license-plate restrictions and said it paves the way for "big steps" to normalize relations between the Balkan neighbors.

The EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, on Wednesday announced the deployment of gendarmes from its Reserve Formed Police Unit, RFPU, to ensure security in the Serb-majority North of Kosovo after the mass resignation of Kosovo Serbs from state institutions.

President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, addressed the nation tonight, for the first time since the beginning of the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija .

NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoană, spoke with the European Union's special representative for Belgrade - Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak.

The EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, has said armed persons were present in Serb-majority northern Kosovo in late July, when locals erected barricades to block two border crossing points, protesting the Kosovo government’s “reciprocity measures” against Serbia on the issue of car license plates and IDs.