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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday that the Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Kosovo Republic Albin Kurti intentionally planned for escalation to take place in the north of the province to purposefully spark a conflict between Serbia and NATO.

Since last week, thousands of Serbs residing in northern Kosovo have rallied in front of administrative buildings to protest against the appointment of ethnic Albanian mayors.

Kosovo security forces and NATO's Kosovo Forces (KFOR) were deployed near the town halls of Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok where violent clashes erupted. 

"All this is organized by Albin Kurti, with his great desire for a conflict between the Serbs and NATO to take place, and he is the only one guilty of what is happening," Vucic said in an address to the citizens, adding that 52 Serbs have so far been injured in the clashes. 

🎥 Dhunë, të shtëna e gaz lotsjellës pas intervenimit të KFOR-it

Disa pjesëtarë të lënduar të KFOR-it janë parë në rrugë të Zveçanit pas intervenimit për t’i shpërndarë protestuesit serbë në Zveçan.

©️ Arben Hoti/REL

🔗https://t.co/xqZrgCQlBg pic.twitter.com/fEzbN1FhLz

— Radio Evropa e Lirë (@evropaelire) May 29, 2023

In 2008, Kosovo seceded from Serbia and unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia. An agreement to improve relations between Serbia and Kosovo was struck in 2013, but the conversation quickly came to a halt. Since mid-2022, tensions at the border have been building, occasionally rising into road closures in northern Kosovo.

In early March, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic announced that he is not willing to recognize Kosovo's independence nor permit it to join the United Nations despite heightened EU pressure to isolate his country.

Serbia's leader also revealed that the European Union has threatened to isolate Serbia and pull out all investments if the proposed Kosovo agreement was discarded.

Read more: Serb list requests NATO intervention in northern Kosovo