Following a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that NATO forces in Kosovo (KFOR) are “ready to intervene if stability is threatened” due to unrest on the border with Serbia.

In a social media post, Stoltenberg said he “spoke with Serbian President Vučić about tensions in northern Kosovo.”

He stressed that “all parties should engage constructively in EU-led dialogue and resolve differences through diplomatic means. KFOR is ready to intervene if stability is threatened in accordance with the UN mandate.”

The alliance has indicated that NATO forces in Kosovo include 3,775 soldiers from 28 countries. Its mission is to provide a safe environment and ensure freedom of movement “for the benefit of all components of the people of Kosovo”.

Belgrade never recognized the independence that Kosovo declared in 2008 after a decade of bloody war that killed 13,000 people, most of them Kosovar Albanians. Since then, there have been occasional unrest in the region.