US calls on Serbian President to release Kosovo police 'officers' arrested this week

Washington DC [US], June 18 : The United States, on Saturday, called on the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic to "immediately and unconditionally" release the three Kosovo police detained on June 14.

In a statement, the US State Department's Spokesperson Matthew Miller said, "We call on President Vucic and the Serbian government to immediately and unconditionally release the three Kosovo police detained on June 14. Their arrest and ongoing detention on spurious charges have exacerbated an already tense situation."

"We also continue to call on both Serbia and Kosovo to follow the three-point plan outlined by the EU and return to the EU-facilitated Dialogue without delay," he added.

This statement came after the Serbian police arrested three "fully armed" Kosovo police officers, on Wednesday, inside Serbia near their mutual border, while Kosovo officials said the trio were "kidnapped" on Kosovo territory as they patrolled the area, Al Jazeera reported.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti blamed Serbia for abducting the men and demanded their release on Wednesday. He said they were arrested 300 metres (330 yards) inside Kosovan territory near the border.

"The entry of Serbian forces into the territory of Kosovo is aggression and aimed at escalation and destabilisation," Kurti wrote on his Facebook page.

Tensions have been rising in the last week of May in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

In 1999, a NATO bombing campaign drove Serbian security forces out of Kosovo but Belgrade has continued to regard it as a southern province, reported Al Jazeera.

Violence flared last month when 30 NATO peacekeepers and 52 Serbs were injured in clashes in four predominantly Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo just outside Serbia.

It erupted after Serbs rallied against ethnic Albanian mayors who moved into their offices following a local vote in which the turnout was just 3.5 per cent. Serbs in the area boycotted the election, according to Al Jazeera.