Serbia maintains state of alert, Russia speaks out about tensions in Kosovo

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic chaired a National Security Council meeting on May 27 and approved a security action plan to strengthen defense capabilities following tensions in Kosovo. AFP quoted the leader as saying that Serbian armed forces remain on the highest state of alert until further notice.

Kosovo special police guard the mayor's office in the town of Zvecan on May 27.

A day earlier, Mr Vucic ordered the army to raise its alert level and move units to the border with Kosovo in southern Serbia. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to recognize it. Kosovo still has a Serb community of about 120,000 people, concentrated mainly in the north, according to AFP.

The conflict between the Serb and Kosovo communities occurred when the government held controversial elections in April, in which Albanians were elected mayors of four towns in northern Kosovo, which is mainly inhabited by Serbs.

Voter turnout was less than 3.5% and the Serb community boycotted the election. On May 26, Kosovo police special forces used tear gas to disperse Serb crowds protesting against the mayoral elections.

Despite supporting Kosovo's independence, the United States and its European allies criticized Pristina, saying the use of force to install mayors undermined efforts to improve relations between Kosovo and Serbia. These countries also expressed concern about Serbia's increased military readiness. NATO on May 27 called on Kosovo to take measures to reduce tensions and resolve the situation through dialogue.

Kosovo riot police guard the mayor's office in the Serb-majority town of Zvecan.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the same day condemned Kosovo's provocative moves, and blamed both the US and the European Union for reacting too late, according to Reuters.

Serbia and Russia do not recognize Kosovo's independence, and Moscow has blocked Kosovo's membership in global organizations, including the United Nations.

Kosovo's executive branch head Albin Kurti said on May 27 that Kosovo understood the concerns of international partners but stressed that "any other option would be a failure in fulfilling its constitutional obligations." "I call on all parties, especially Kosovo's Serb citizens, to cooperate with the new mayors and their apparatus, which will be multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual," Kurti wrote on Facebook.

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