Western efforts to defuse Kosovo crisis mount as ethnic Serbs in Kosovo rally anew after clashes

By RADUL RADOVANOVIC
Associated Press

ZVECAN, Kosovo (AP) — International efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo have intensified as ethnic Serbs held more protests in a northern town where clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers left dozens injured and sparked fears of renewed conflict in the troubled region. Hundreds of Serbs reiterated at a rally on Wednesday that they want the Kosovo special police and ethnic Albanian officials they call “fake” mayors to withdraw from northern Kosovo where they are a majority. European Union officials meanwhile met with Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti on the sidelines of a conference in Bratislava, Slovakia. The leaders of France and Germany announced plans to meet top Serbia and Kosovo officials on Thursday.