The European Union and the United States have called on Pristina and Belgrade to restore calm after clashes that followed a Kosovo police bid to take over two border crossings in the ethnic Serb north in which a Kosovo police officer was killed.
 
Kosovo police forces tried to take over the Brnjak and Jarinje crossings on the Serbian border on July 25. Their action triggered fighting with Serbian protesters. The Kosovo police officer, Enver Zymberi, died after he was shot in the head. A second officer was wounded by a grenade. Reports say three civilians also were wounded.
 
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton spoke to Serbian president Boris Tadic and prime minister Thaci on July 26, expressing the EU's concern over the escalation of tensions in northern Kosovo. She emphasised that it is essential to restore calm immediately.
 
Ashton called on Tadic and Thaci to help defuse the tensions and "do all that is necessary to calm down the situation".
 
Ashton emphasised that efforts must focus on resolving the underlying issues through the EU
facilitated dialogue.
 
"The dialogue is the only way forward to solve the issue of customs stamps and to re-establish free trade in both directions," Ashton said.
 
She asked Tadic and Thaci to assist the efforts of the EU Special Representative and EULEX who have been talking to both sides in order to agree to a reasonable way forward.
 
A US state department spokesperson said that the US regrets that the action by the Kosovo government to take control of customs border crossings in northern Kosovo "was not co-ordinated with the international community". 
 
"We call upon the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to continue to work urgently toward a de-escalation of the current situation," the state department said.
 
The spokesperson said that the US "greatly appreciates the prompt actions by Nato’s peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) to de-escalate the situation and work to establish a safe and secure environment, and we will continue to support KFOR and other international actors in this task".  
 
"We urge all parties to refrain from the use of violence," the state department said.
 
The free movement of goods between Serbia and Kosovo should be addressed within the European Union-facilitated dialogue, the spokesperson said. 
 
"Unilateral acts by both sides – the imposition by Serbia of a unilateral embargo on Kosovo goods in 2008, and the recent decision by Kosovo to reciprocate after the failure of both parties to reach agreement on customs normalisation – have resulted in this current impasse. 
 
"We have confidence in the EU’s management of the dialogue and urge both parties to return to the negotiating table immediately. We expect Kosovo and Serbia, through the Dialogue, to establish the positive, reciprocal conditions that permit both people and goods to move freely between Kosovo and Serbia," the state department said.