United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken called again on Kosovo and Serbia to undertake immediate steps in reducing tensions in north Kosovo. He warned that the current situation hinders Euro-Atlantic integration processes for both parties.

“We support the process of Euro-Atlantic integration for Kosovo and Serbia. However, the current escalation hinders more than helps attempts to go down this path,” Blinken told journalists in Oslo, following an unofficial NATO foreign ministers’ summit.

“We have been very clear in our concerns over some of the latest actions. We have told this directly to the leaders involved, including Prime Minister Kurti.”

Blinken also warned against “unilateral actions” from each party, after Serbia put its army on alert. He said that a European future would fulfill “aspirations of people in both countries”.

Blinken previously expressed concerns over the situation in north Kosovo, calling on the Kosovar authorities and Serbian ones to return to the EU-facilitated dialogue towards the normalization of relations.

The United States slapped sanctions on Kosovo, cancelling participation in “Defender Europe 2023” military exercises, withdrawing help in lobbying non-recognizers and support for membership to international organizations, while Serbia did not face similar responses.

Tensions have gripped Kosovo with protesters and security forces clashing in the northern Serb-dominated municipalities over the election of ethnic Albanian mayors.

At least 30 NATO soldiers were injured in the clashes, with NATO declaring it would deploy additional troops to its peacekeeping mission, KFOR.

700 additional troops are already underway to Kosovo, confirmed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, to contain the escalated situation in the northern part of the country.