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The Kosovo police have denied that they crossed the border with Serbia without authorization, calling the claims of the Serbian authorities untrue.
The Ministry of Defense of Serbia claimed that a group of Kosovo policemen, heavily armed, have crossed the border line in the village of Čirković, in Leposavic, in an unauthorized manner.
"Such writings referred to in the announcement of the Ministry of Defense of Serbia, are untrue and do not stand. Therefore, these articles and the announcement published as such, is disinformation that aims to create uncertainty among the citizens of that area and tarnish the work of the Kosovo Police", said the Kosovo Police.
The Serbian Ministry of Defense said that the "unauthorized crossing of the administrative line" between Serbia and Kosovo represents a "dangerous provocation and threat to peace."
This ministry stated that the Serbian army is observing the situation on the ground and "are ready to react" based on the Kumanovo Military-Technical Agreement.
"The Ministry of Defense requests from KFOR, as the only legal and legitimate military force in the territory of Kosovo, to take measures in accordance with its mandate and to prevent the interim authorities of Pristina from trying to cause an escalation of violence" , said the Serbian Ministry of Defense.
Kosovo and Serbia share a long border line of about 350 kilometers and over 60 percent of this line includes the municipalities in the north of Kosovo, inhabited by a majority of Serbs.
In recent years, Kosovo has often accused Serbia of bringing the army near the border. Meanwhile, in June 2023, Kosovo said that three of its police officers were arrested inside the state's territory, near the border, but Serbia claimed that they had crossed the border line. A few days later, the policemen were released by the Serbian authorities.
For Kosovo, the border line is a border, for Serbia it is an administrative line.
The NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, is responsible for the security of Kosovo's borders with Serbia, while the Kosovo Police is responsible for the rest of the border line.
However, according to a 2014 decision by the then KFOR commander, the Police can patrol the Kosovo-Serbia border line up to 1 kilometer close to the dividing line.
Currently, KFOR has over 4,400 military troops in Kosovo.
NATO has increased its presence in Kosovo during 2023, after the increase in tensions in the north inhabited by a Serbian majority.
KFOR is the third security responder in Kosovo, after the Kosovo Police which is the first and after the EU rule of law mission, EULEX.
The new head of NATO, Mark Rutte, said last month that the security situation in Kosovo and the region is fragile./REL
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