Lajcak and Escobar to visit Kosovo and Serbia next week in a bid to diffuse tensions

EU special representative for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak and US envoy for Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar are expected to visit Kosovo and Serbia next week, diplomatic sources in Brussels told Radio Free Europe.

The scope of this visit is to try and find a solution to the current situation in northern Kosovo and diffuse tensions. Meanwhile, the two officials will also encourage authorities to implement the Ohrid agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia in Ohrid.

EU diplomats say that the latest tensions in the north must not threaten the agreement that the two countries reached in North Macedonia in March and this is why they urge the sides to resume dialoge towards the normalization of ties.

The situation in northern Kosovo became tense on May 26, when Kosovo police assisted newly-elected Albanian mayors of Serb-majority municipalities to enter the municipality buildings despite the protests of local residents.