BELGRADE, September 30. /TASS/. The situation in northern Kosovo and Metohija has normalized after Saturday’s crisis, MP from the Zubin Potok town of the Serb List party Igor Simic said on Sunday.
"The barricades in Zubin Potok have been removed after the address by President Aleksandar Vucic. The situation has calmed down, although tensions are in the air," said Simic, who represents an influential political party of the Serb minority in the autonomous region.
"I hope that someone in Pristina and those embassies, which make decisions and can exert influence on the Albanians, are aware how much Serbia and local authorities did to calm down the situation so that the Serbs do not fall for the provocation," he said.
On Saturday, several dozens of members of Kosovo special forces entered Serb-populated northern districts in breach of international agreements. The special forces were deployed to positions around Lake Gazivode, took control over the local hydroelectric power plant and intruded the Ecology and Development Center in Zubin Potok. According to the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, this was done to ensure security of leader of the self-proclaimed Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, during his visit to the region’s north.
In response, the Serbian president put the country’s armed forces and special police units on high alert and voiced protest to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Analysts say the Kosovars’ provocation was staged amid a challenging domestic political situation in Pristina. After the Kosovo delegation’s trip to the UN General Assembly was a failure, Thaci needed a "victorious" trip to the Serb territory, they explained.