WASHINGTON, December 28. /TASS/. The US and the European Union on Wednesday issued a joint statement calling for an immediate de-escalation of tensions in the situation around Kosovo and both sides to exercise maximum restraint, according to statement.

"The European Union and the United States of America are concerned about the continued tense situation in the north of Kosovo. We call on everyone to exercise maximum restraint, to take immediate action to unconditionally de-escalate the situation, and to refrain from provocations, threats, or intimidation," said the statement that was released by the US Department of State.

The statement said that the US and EU are working with Belgrade and Pristina "to find a political solution in order to defuse the tensions and agree on the way forward in the interest of stability, safety and well-being of all local communities."

"We also expect Kosovo and Serbia to return to fostering an environment conducive to reconciliation, regional stability, and cooperation for the benefit of their citizens," the statement said.

Earlier, Belgrade successfully pushed Pristina to release a former policeman and other Serbs that had been arrested for participating in rallies. Serbian President Alexandar Vucic said a day earlier that the release of the Serbs was a condition for a de-escalation in Kosovo and Metohija and the taking down of the barricades.

The government of the self-proclaimed Kosovo earlier put its armed forces on full combat alert. Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic and Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic responded by saying that the Serbian armed forces were also ordered by President Alexandar Vucic to be on full combat alert.

The situation in Kosovo deteriorated sharply on December 6, when the special forces of the unrecognized territory, accompanied by patrols of the European Union Mission in Kosovo, began to seize the premises of election commissions in the north of Kosovo and Metohija. The Serbian population rebuffed the Kosovars, who fled across the Ibar River. On December 8, some 350 police officers from Kosovo invaded the Serb-populated north of the province in armored vehicles and blockaded the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.