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Risk of hostilities at Serbian-Kosovan border currently elevated — Russian envoy

"The issue is more serious. The issue lies in the obvious unwillingness of Pristina authorities to fulfill the obligations taken by themselves and their predecessors. The EU was a kind of guarantor of this agreement," Vladimir Chizhov noted

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. The risk of hostilities at the border between Central Serbia and Kosovo is elevated amid the new escalation of the situation at the border, Russian Permanent Representative at the EU Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview on Tuesday.

"The situation there is tense. Indeed, the risk of hostilities is always present there, but currently, it is clearly elevated," the diplomat said.

According to the envoy, the situation does not boil down "to the specific issue that triggered the escalation - the issue of entry permissions for cars with specific license plates."

"The issue is more serious. The issue lies in the obvious unwillingness of Pristina authorities to fulfill the obligations taken by themselves and their predecessors. The EU was a kind of guarantor of this agreement," he noted.

According to Chizhov, "various attempts" were made to resolve the situation, both by the EU and other "external participants."

"But, so far, nobody was able to change the current, frankly stubborn and not at all flexible position of Pristina," he concluded.

The situation at the administrative line between Kosovo and Central Serbia escalated on September 20, when hundreds of Kosovan policemen, including snipers, occupied the Jarinje and Brnjak checkpoints. The Kosovars started to forcefully remove license plates from Serbian cars, replacing them with Kosovan ones, taking a "fee" of 5 euros. Outraged by the Kosovars’ actions, numerous Serbs traveled to the checkpoints on over 400 cars and commenced a peaceful protest that continues to this day.

On September 23, Kosovan policemen attacked three Serbs, one of them was hospitalized. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic urged the West to exert influence over Pristina and demanded that Kosovan police forces be withdrawn.

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