News: KFOR rejects Serbia’s request to send soldiers to Kosovo

KFOR, the international peacekeeping force led by NATO in Kosovo, has rejected the request of Serbian President Aleksander Vucic to send 1,000 Serbian soldiers to northern Kosovo after the increasing tensions of recent months.

A first sign of détente occurred on 29 December, when, thanks to international mediation, the Serbs began to remove the blockades from the border crossings and on 5 January KFOR forces completely liberated the north of the country from roadblocks.

On the same day on 9 January, the meeting between the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Mircea Geoană, the US Deputy Secretary for European Affairs, took place at NATO headquarters, Gabriel Escobar, and the EU Special Representative for Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák. On the occasion, Deputy Secretary General Geoană stressed the intense efforts made by NATO allies and the European Union to defuse the recent tensions and stressed the fundamental support provided by the KFOR mission to guide stability throughout the region.