Tensions in northern Kosovo have escalated significantly in recent weeks, with the situation worsening following a series of events on September 10. The latest incident involved the arrest of a group of young Serbs, an event that has further strained the fragile peace in the region.

Protesters were gathering outside the police station in North Mitrovica at around midday on September 11, to demand the release of the four Serb youths. According to media reports, the four were beaten by Kosovan police officers. 

On September 10, Aleksandar Arsenijevic, leader of the Serb Democracy party in Kosovo, shared a video on social media that appeared to show police engaged in a physical altercation with several men, as well as a woman who was filming the incident on her mobile phone. 

The Kosovo Police, however, provided a different account of the events. In a statement to Radio Free Europe, they confirmed that four individuals had been detained on September 10 for insulting and attacking two policemen, one of whom was injured. They said that the suspects were under the influence of alcohol, and that “the minimum necessary force was used” during the arrests. 

The latest unrest comes after a series of actions by the Kosovan government aimed at asserting control over the north of the country, which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Serbs who align themselves with Belgrade.

One such measure was the central bank’s 2023 decision to mandate the exclusive use of the euro in Kosovo, a move that prompted protests in Serb-majority areas where the Serbian dinar had long been in use.

The ban caused significant disruptions for the local Serb population, particularly pensioners who rely on Serbian pensions paid in dinars. Citizens in North Mitrovica took to the streets in February to protest the bank’s decision. Many Serbs in northern Kosovo view Pristina's policies as an effort to marginalise their community, fearing that such actions are intended to cut off their ties to Serbia.

Tensions were further heightened when six branches of the Serbian Postal Savings Bank were shut down in May for continuing to use the dinar. Over the summer, Kosovo’s police raided and closed nine offices of the Serbian postal service, citing their operation without licenses from Kosovan authorities. The move was met with strong criticism from Serbia and the European Union.

Kosovo’s efforts to reopen the central bridge over the Ibar River in Mitrovica, which divides the city along ethnic lines, have also sparked concerns. The bridge has long been a flashpoint between the Serb and Albanian halves of the city, symbolising its ethnic divisions.

International actors, including Nato-led peacekeepers and the European Union, have expressed concern over the escalating situation, which dates back to May 2023, when clashes between Serb protesters and Kosovan security forces erupted after ethnic Albanian mayors were installed in four Serb-majority municipalities following local elections boycotted by the Serb population.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has defended his government’s actions, claiming they are necessary steps to assert Kosovo’s sovereignty and implement agreements made with Serbia. "An agreement already exists, and it must be implemented on the ground," Kurti said during a recent visit to North Mitrovica. 

Kurti has also accused Belgrade of failing to abide by the terms of an EU-mediated agreement aimed at normalising relations between the two sides, reached in early 2023 but never signed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. 

Kurti “has taken a great deal of criticism for clamping down on parallel institutions operating in Serb-populated northern Kosovo … Pristina has acted unilaterally, ignoring the so-called normalization talks overseen by Borrell’s office as well as the advice of Western capitals,” wrote Dimitar Bechev, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe, in a comment published on September 10.

“But as far as Kurti is concerned, heavy-handed tactics pay off … In Kosovo’s view, the West has been applying double standards: punishing Pristina for enforcing its sovereignty while indulging Vucic, who has refused to cut ties with Russia and join the Western sanctions,” Bechev added.

Pristina also points to the violence in September 2023, when when an armed group attacked a Kosovan border guard in the village of Banjska, followed by a deadly firefight between the militants and Kosovan security forces. Kurti claimed that the attack was part of a broader plan to annex northern Kosovo. 

There were also blockades of the borders between Serbia and Kosovo this month after the raids on Serb institutions in northern Kosovo, which Kosovan Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla claimed had been set up by “masked extremists” from Serbia. He accused Serbia of pursuing a “special war” against Kosovo using Russian-inspired tactics. 

In response, Vucic has criticised Kurti's "heavy-handed" tactics, warning that they risk triggering greater unrest in the region. Vucic says he will address the public within days regarding Serbia's next steps.

The current tension in northern Kosovo is rooted in the broader historical conflict between ethnic Serbs and Albanians, a conflict that has simmered since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia has refused to recognise Kosovo’s independence, and sporadic outbreaks of violence between the two ethnic groups have persisted.

Kosovo Albanians fear that efforts to create an Association of Serb Municipalities, a key provision of the 2014 Brussels Agreement, could result in the formation of a Serb enclave within Kosovo, similar to Bosnia’s Republika Srpska. Meanwhile, Serbs in northern Kosovo are concerned about their future under Kurti’s administration, with many advocating for closer ties to Serbia and the protection of their rights.

The international community, led by Nato and the European Union, has called for calm and dialogue. In a recent statement quoted by local media, Nato’s Kfor force called the security situation in the area “calm but fragile”. Kfor is carrying out joint patrols with both the Kosovo Police and the Serbian army in border areas. 

Miroslav Lajcak, EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, met with Vucic on September 9. Lajcak tweeted afterwards that Vucic had "raised strong concerns” about the situation of the Kosovo Serbs. “I stressed that we need to discuss and find agreed solutions in the dialogue,” Lajcak wrote on X. 

However, with each side entrenched in its position, there are growing fears that the situation could spiral into renewed violence, further complicating efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region.

“The trouble, however, is that things can get out of hand. While we should not be overly alarmist about Kosovo, complacency is not advisable either. Last year’s Banjska clash has shown us that escalation could be in the cards, with people getting killed,” wrote Bechev for Carnegie Europe. 

As the situation unfolds, both Belgrade and Pristina continue to engage in a tense standoff, with international actors closely monitoring the potential for escalation.