Kosovo: Nato ready to send more troops after unrest

Nato peacekeepers in the northern Kosovo town of Zvecan

Nato says it is ready to send more troops to Kosovo after unrest following the appointment of ethnic Albanian mayors to majority-Serb areas.

Pristina and Belgrade have blamed each other for the unrest, with Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic calling for the mayors' removal.

The US has also criticised their installation, which came after Serb residents boycotted local polls.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but Serbia does not recognise it.

Nato has already sent 700 reinforcements to Kosovo but Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said more might be needed. The alliance already has 4,000 troops there.

The mayors were elected after Serbs in northern Kosovo boycotted local elections, depressing turnout to about 3% and leading ethnic Albanian candidates to be elected. Serb protestors then tried to stop them taking up their posts.

Some 30 Nato peacekeepers and more than 50 Serb protesters were hurt in the ensuing clashes.

Speaking on the sidelines of a European summit in Moldova, Mr Vucic said withdrawing the mayors would be the "most powerful" way to defuse tensions.

He insisted that his country would "attempt to persuade Serbs to protest calmly and peacefully".

But at the same event Kosovan President Vjosa Osmani blamed Belgrade for the recent violence, accusing it of "supporting criminal gangs" in the country.

Serbia "needs to come to terms with its past", he said, adding that the "real threat in fact is coming from Serbia's denial of existence of a sovereign state".

The US, which backed Kosovo's independence from Serbia, criticised Kosovo's decision to install ethnic Albanian mayors in northern Kosovo "by forcible means" and expelled Kosovo from participating in an ongoing American-led military exercise in Europe.

Serbia's ally Russia has called for the rights of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo to be respected.

• Why is violence flaring up in Kosovo?

• Peacekeepers in the middle as Kosovo-Serbia row escalates

Following the violence Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic drew attention to the situation by writing "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence" after his first-round win at the French Open.

The tennis player, whose father was born in Kosovo, later said: "Of course it hurts me very much as a Serb to see what is happening in Kosovo and the way our people have been practically expelled from the municipal offices, so the least I could do was this."

On Wednesday, following criticism from France's sports minister, he said it is an issue he "stands for" although he was aware that some would disagree with his action.

• Djokovic stands by controversial Kosovo message