State Department: Police Closure of Banks in North Kosovo Escalating Tensions 

U.S. State Department (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

The US State Department has said it is disappointed with “the police action in financial institutions in North Kosovo at the order of the Interior Ministry,” noting that it is escalating tensions, Voice of America (VoA) reported on May 21. 

“Issues associated with these offices have been the subject of lengthy discussions under the EU-facilitated Dialogue. This action was not coordinated with international partners and escalates tensions. It undermines the perception that Kosovo is acting in good faith to resolve the issues between it and Serbia through the Dialogue facilitated by the EU,” said an unnamed spokesperson for the State Department, responding to the inquiry of VoA. 

The Kosovo police have said that six branch offices of bank Postanska Stedionica in North Kosovo were closed on May 20. Official notices of their closure had been placed on the bank’s units, the police said in a release, adding that “all further activities will be performed in coordination with judicial bodies.”

“The US government has repeatedly sought coordination between our governments in order to support Kosovo’s progress on its Euro-Atlantic path, including recently by Undersecretary of State Elizabeth Allen in her meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on May 19,” the State Department spokesman said, according to VoA.