US calls on Serbia to release Kosovar policemen

NEW YORK

The United States demanded that Serbia "immediately and unconditionally" release the three Kosovar police officers it had detained.

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller released a statement on the subject.

"We call on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the Serbian government to immediately and unconditionally release the three Kosovo policemen detained on June 14," Miller said, adding that the detention of the police officers worsened the already tense situation.

Miller also reiterated calls for Serbia and Kosovo to implement the three-point plan outlined by the European Union (EU) and return to EU-backed dialogue.

Ongoing tension between Kosovo and Serbia

On May 26, Kosovo Serbs protested the election of Albanian mayors who won the local elections on April 23 in the municipalities of Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic, where ethnic Serbs are concentrated in the north of Kosovo.

As the protests continued in the region, Kosovo police and the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) surrounded the municipal buildings with wire fences and increased the number of personnel in the region.

There was a clash between the Kosovo police, which was sent to the region to protect the Albanian mayors and the Kosovo Serbs.

Kosovo police detained Serbian Milun Milenkovic in Northern Mitrovica on June 13, on the grounds that he was one of the organizers of the attacks against KFOR elements and Kosovo police.

Serbia detained three people, who were determined to be members of the Kosovo police, in the border region of the two countries on June 14, on the grounds that they were "planning an act in Serbia." Meanwhile, Kosovo claimed that the police officers were abducted by Serbia.

Serbia reacted to Milenkovic's detention and Serbian leader Vucic claimed that Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti wanted to start a war.

Recognizing Kosovo, which declared its independence unilaterally in 2008, as its own territory, Serbia also decided to place its army on the border with the breakaway state.