BELGRADE, June 23. /TASS/. The NATO-led international security force in Kosovo (KFOR) is provoking escalation of the conflict in northern Kosovo and supporting the criminal activities of Kosovar law enforcement officers, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said on Friday.

"Commenting on the actions of KFOR soldiers in Zvecan on May 29, 2023, when heavily-armed Pristina police and NATO forces used force against peacefully protesting Serbs, the KFOR commander, Italian General Angelo Michele Ristuccia, lauded KFOR’s professionalism for allegedly preventing further escalation and human casualties," the press service of the Russian embassy quoted him as saying.

"The NATO general’s bragging sounds mockingly cynical towards the Kosovo Serbs. It is only logical that they did not accept the outcome of the April 23, 2023 pseudo-election (even the West has begun to talk about the need to hold a new election, with the participation of Serbs this time). But the KFOR soldiers were ordered to defend the Kosovo police and dissolve the Serbian rally. Is this what can be called a path to de-escalation? It’s more the opposite," he said.

According to the Russian diplomat, NATO troops are obviously seeking to distance themselves from hotbeds of tension. "The situation in Serb-populated areas in Kosovo and Metohija is still very tense, with unjustified detentions of Serbs and attacks on civilians, including on children, continuing. The KFOR has recused itself - probably, they are busy polishing up their professionalism," he said and called on the KFOR to strictly adhere to its mandate approved by the United Nations Security Council resolution 1244.

The situation in the Serb-populated Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Zvecan municipalities in northern Kosovo and Metohija escalated on May 26 after Kosovo law enforcement officers tried to seize local administration buildings to make it possible for the new mayors of these municipalities, who were elected despite nearly the entire Serb population boycotting the elections, take their offices. On May 29, the NATO-led international security force in Kosovo (KFOR) cordoned off the administrative buildings, clashing with the protesters. The Kosovo police detained seven local Serbs on charges of using force against KFOR troops during protests on May 29. However, according to a video shot during the rally, these men were merely sitting on the ground in front of the KFOR troops.

During a phone call with US senators, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Prime Minister of the unrecognized republic of Kosovo Albin Kurti was provoking hostilities in the very heart of Europe. He also lambasted the activity of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX).