Lajcak: There will be a meeting in Brussels; Escobar: I'm worried; this could turn into a regional conflict

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and US Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, and the Special EU Representative for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak, held a public discussion in the Atlantic Council today about the situation in northern Kosovo and possible solutions to the current crisis.

Lajcak stated that he expected a meeting in Brussels soon.

"They will come; we are working on the date. Saying "no" to the meeting invitation would be a very serious and negative move," Lajcak said.

Lajcak stated that he was very worried about the current situation and that the first priority was to remove people from the streets and to hold new local elections in which the Serbs would participate without preconditions.

"We have seen several incidents, if the situation does not de-escalate, we will have victims. There is no doubt that on May 29, we saw very radical elements in Zvecan, who came to injure, if not kill, and cause violence, and there is no justification for that. Those criminals must be discovered and brought to justice, but you can't say about the 45,000 Serbs in the north that they are all criminals," Lajcak said.

Escobar also said that he was very concerned because the current situation in the north of Kosovo had the potential to become a regional conflict, and repeated the demand that the arrested Kosovo policemen be released immediately.

"The KFOR commander told us that 97 percent of the people at the protest had been peaceful, and that was why you could not apply the term fascist militia," Escobar said.

He said that the US had supported the elections in the north and recognized the election results and the legitimacy of the mayor, but also stated that the Kosovo government could not occupy municipal buildings by force. He encouraged the parties not to escalate tensions.

"They should accept the European agreement. They accepted the plan, there is no other choice. The international community is united in this direction," Escobar said.

Lajcak said that there was no deadline for new elections in the north and that everything depended on the political will, and he also pointed out that there were constitutional and legal procedures that had to be followed.

"No one will promote a solution that is unconstitutional, but so far there has been no will to resolve this issue," Lajcak said and repeated the EU's call to hold new elections in which, as he stated, the Serbs would also participate.

According to him, de-escalation of the situation is important.

"People should be allowed to return to normal life, and the police and KFOR to withdraw. We have to set a date for the election. When there is no dialogue and solution, there is escalation and unilateral actions from both sides," he said.