The Prime Minister of Hungary, Orban, asks Belgrade to release the three Kosovo policemen who are being held in Serbia

2023-06-20 15:47:32, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Prime Minister of Hungary, Orban, asks Belgrade to release the three Kosovo

Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban asked Serbian President Aleksander Vu?i? on Tuesday to release the three Kosovo policemen who have been detained in Serbia since June 14.

Prime Minister Orban on Tuesday joined calls from the United States, Great Britain and Germany for the release of the police officers.

"With respect, I beg you, dear Aleksandar, to think this through. The enemies of Serbia are eager to harm Serbia and this is such a situation and case, and I think it would be better for you to listen to Hungary's recommendation to return them to Kosovo", Prime Minister Orban said at a conference with journalists in the city of Subotica in northern Serbia, after a meeting between the governments of both countries.

However, the Serbian president has not given any signs that he is ready to listen to Western appeals, stressing that "the issue belongs to the judicial bodies". The three policemen were sentenced to 30 days of detention.

Since last night, at the crossings that connect Kosovo with Serbia, Merdar and Jarinje, buses and trucks from Kosovo are not being allowed to enter the territory of Serbia, by groups of Serbian citizens. They protested in protest against last week's decision by Pristina not to allow the entry of trucks with Serbian license plates and goods into Kosovo, after the arrest of three policemen.

Their arrest added to the already high tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, fueling concerns about renewed conflicts in the region.

The Head of Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, has invited a meeting on crisis management between the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic. The European Union said the meeting should be held unconditionally, repeating calls for a reduction in tensions.

Prime Minister Kurti said that his answer will depend on a visit that the head of the Kosovo Liaison Office in Belgrade is expected to make to the Kosovo policemen who are being held in a prison in the city of Kraleva in Serbia.

Meanwhile, Serbian President Vucic said on Tuesday that "he will not talk to Mr. Kurti until every Serb arrested in the north of Kosovo is released and the Albanian mayors of the northern municipalities are not withdrawn" .

NATO deployed additional troops in Kosovo after tensions erupted on May 26 in northern Kosovo, where groups of Serbian protesters took to the streets to oppose the placement in municipal offices of Albanian mayors from the April 23 elections, which were boycotted by political parties. Serbian.

Western diplomats have asked Kosovo to remove special police units from northern municipalities, for mayors to work in alternative offices and to organize new elections there.

Prime Minister Kurti said on Monday that the removal of the police will happen along with the establishment of the law, but he did not hint that he is ready to accept Western demands./ VOA