Kosovo to partially withdraw special police officers from northern Serb-majority municipalities

abcnews.go.com:

Kosovo’s government has decided to reduce by one-fourth the number of special police officers and also hold new mayoral elections in four Serb-majority municipalities

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s government on Wednesday will reduce the number of special police officers stationed outside four municipal buildings in ethnic Serb-majority areas and hold new mayoral elections in each of the towns, in a bid to defuse tensions with neighboring Serbia that flared anew in May.

Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that one-fourth of the special police forces would be moved away from the sites “taking into consideration that the situation at the municipal buildings has been comparatively much quieter in the last two weeks.” He added that more officers would be withdrawn based on the continuous evaluation of the situation.

It wasn't immediately clear when the reductions would take place, and where the officers would be reassigned to.

Serbia's government and Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs want special police forces to leave the northern area, while Pristina says the number will be gradually reduced.

Kurti said the government would make a formal statement on holding new elections in the four municipalities, which have an ethnic Serb-majority population.

“For that it is necessary to create a proper environment to make possible holding of the (electoral) campaign, political pluralism, participation of the local communities and also guaranteeing vote inviolability,” he added.

The decisions were made after Kurti's deputy met with European Union envoy Miroslav Lajčák in Bratislava, Slovakia, earlier this week, according to Kurti.

Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo boycotted mayoral elections in the four municipalities in April as part of a campaign