On May 26, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic put Serbian armed forces on high alert and deployed them to the border with Kosovo. TASS, citing the Vecernje Novosti newspaper, reported that Vucic issued a decree ordering the armed forces to immediately move to the administrative border of Kosovo and Metohija as a response to [Prime Minister of the unrecognized Republic of Kosovo Albin] “Kurti’s special police … using violent tactics against the Serbian residents of Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic.” Those villages are inside Kosovo but their majority-Serbian residents refuse to recognize Kosovo’s 2007 declaration of independence. It seems that the latest clashes were sparked by the attempt by Kosovo authorities to install four Albanians as mayors of these Serbian communities following elections that the Serbs boycotted and did not recognize. Only 3.7% of the population voted.
Vucic also called on NATO officials to take urgent measures to end the violence being perpetrated against the Serbian population of Kosovo, the report said.