The US has accused authorities in Kosovo of “unnecessarily raising ethnic tensions” after the government imposed a ban on Serbia’s currency and instructed its Serb minority to adopt the euro.
Police raids ordered by Pristina’s interior ministry on four organisations working in Serb-populated areas, which came days after the currency switch, have intensified fears of the security situation deteriorating.
Officials say the status of the organisations targeted in the police raids – parallel structures funded by Belgrade – should be addressed though EU-facilitated normalisation talks between Kosovo and Serbia.
The international community has urged the Kosovan government to postpone the euro-only policy, saying the currency switch decision, announced by the central bank in mid-January, did not allow enough time to adapt.
“These actions are unnecessarily raising ethnic tensions and as a consequence limit the options of the United States to serve as an effective advocate for Kosovo in the international arena,” he said.
Highlighting tensions, Serbia’s populist president, Aleksandar Vučić, said the ban on the dinar was part of a wider policy to ethnically cleanse the Serbs from Kosovo, describing it as a “criminal strike” against the 100,000-strong minority.
The original article contains 634 words, the summary contains 189 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The US has accused authorities in Kosovo of “unnecessarily raising ethnic tensions” after the government imposed a ban on Serbia’s currency and instructed its Serb minority to adopt the euro.
Police raids ordered by Pristina’s interior ministry on four organisations working in Serb-populated areas, which came days after the currency switch, have intensified fears of the security situation deteriorating.
Officials say the status of the organisations targeted in the police raids – parallel structures funded by Belgrade – should be addressed though EU-facilitated normalisation talks between Kosovo and Serbia.
The international community has urged the Kosovan government to postpone the euro-only policy, saying the currency switch decision, announced by the central bank in mid-January, did not allow enough time to adapt.
“These actions are unnecessarily raising ethnic tensions and as a consequence limit the options of the United States to serve as an effective advocate for Kosovo in the international arena,” he said.
Highlighting tensions, Serbia’s populist president, Aleksandar Vučić, said the ban on the dinar was part of a wider policy to ethnically cleanse the Serbs from Kosovo, describing it as a “criminal strike” against the 100,000-strong minority.
The original article contains 634 words, the summary contains 189 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!