Kosovo Security Force

Grasso said this while talking about Thaci's recent visit to Lake Gazivode, which further strained Belgrade-Pristina relations, and stressed that there was "no incident, arrest or military operation at that time."

Following the resignation of a number of Serbian members of the Kosovo Security Force, KSF, the Kosovar Center for Security Studies, KCSS, has published a report blaming Serbian government pressure.

According to the KCSS, the pressure on Serbian KSF members and their mass withdrawal constituted an act of "brutal interference" by Serbia with a Kosovo state institution.

Kosovo's government on Thursday approved a new bill on the Kosovo Security Force, KSF, expanding its competences but avoiding the need for constitutional changes required to change it into a regular army. 

The proposal came from Rrustem Berisha, Minister of the Kosovo Security Force, and provides for the gradual transformation of the FSK.

He clarified that those were political decisions.

When asked to assess the course of the EU-moderated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Ducich said the only way to solve problems is for the country leaders to sit down and talk about them.

Despite reports that Serbs have been asking to leave the Kosovo Security Force amid an upsurge of political tensions between Belgrade and Pristina, the number of Serbs who want to join the Kosovo Police remains similar to 2014, the force said.

Kosovo Police told BIRN that in 2014, over 5 per cent of applicants were Serbs, "while this year there was around 5 per cent (4.91 per cent)".

But Pristina-based newspaper Koha Ditore is reporting that the five men have been released "immediately after they were questioned."

We have encouraged the government to work methodically on the transitioning of the KSF and to continue its campaign in Kosovo, as well as with international partners, to secure maximal support for this transition," the embassy said in a written reply to Albanian language newspaper Koha, adding:

Director of Serbia's Office for Kosovo, Marko Djuric, called on Kosovo Serbs not to join the Army of Kosovo, and citing Serbian legislation he threatened local Serbs of severe punishments up to 10 years imprisonment, if they decide to become part of future army of Kosovo, Gazeta Express writes.

Kosovo Government is planning to establish the Army through changes that would broaden the responsibilities of the existing Kosovo Security Force (KSF) as one of the modalities to bypass a Serb veto. The KSF Ministry pledges that by 30 April they will proceed the Draft Law on Army to the Government, Gazeta Express reports.

The base was visited by Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe General James Everard, and Commander of NATOs Joint Force Command in Naples Admiral James Foggo.