EU and US envoys urge Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue to ease soaring tension

By FLORENT BAJRAMI and LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The envoys of the European Union and the United States urged Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue as the only way to de-escalate the soaring tension between the two nations. The visit Saturday is the first of its kind since Sept. 24 when around 30 Serb gunmen crossed into northern Kosovo, killing a police officer and setting up barricades, before launching an hours-long gun battle with Kosovo police. Following their visit to the capital, Pristina, the two envoys will head to Belgrade. Both Serbia and Kosova want to join the EU, which has told them they first need to sort out their differences. Western powers want them to implement a plan put forward by the EU to end months of political crises.