Serbia releases 3 Kosovo police officers whose arrest fueled tensions between the Balkan foes

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A Serbian court on Monday ordered the release of three police officers from Kosovo who were detained earlier this month as tensions escalated between the Balkan foes and following U.S. and European Union demands that they be set free.

A court in the central Serbian town of Kraljevo said it was releasing the police officers, who will be allowed to return to Kosovo. The court said in a statement that the three were charged with illegal possession of weapons and explosive devices. It wasn’t immediately clear if the case would continue in their absence.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti tweeted that “we confirm that the 3 kidnapped police officers have been released. Even though we are joyous that they get to return to their families, this abduction consists of a serious human rights violation & must be reprimanded. The Serbian aggression must be held accountable.”

The three were detained in mid-June. Serbia has said they had crossed into the country from Kosovo, while Kosovar authorities insisted they had been kidnapped inside Kosovo and transferred to a Serbian prison.

The dispute had increased tensions between the two countries that had flared into recent violent clashes in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo, stirring fears of a renewal of the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo that left more than 10,000 people dead, mostly Kosovar Albanians.

The EU last week summoned the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to Brussels in a bid to ease the tensions. The meeting produced no breakthrough as EU officials urged both sides to make an immediate effort to defuse the situation.

Serbia and its former province Kosovo have been at odds for decades, with Belgrade refusing to recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

Tensions flared anew late last month, including with violent clashes, after Kosovo police seized local municipality buildings in northern Kosovo, where Serbs represent a majority, to install ethnic Albanian mayors who were elected in a local election in April after Serbs overwhelmingly boycotted the vote.

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