– For security reasons, the authorities have decided to increase the level of border controls, says Perparim Kryeziu, the government’s spokesperson to AFP.
The announcement comes as a response to an earlier incident on Wednesday in which Serbia said it had arrested three armed Kosovo policemen on its territory.
Kosovo, for its part, claims that the policemen were kidnapped on Kosovar soil. According to the Kosovo police, the group belonged to a border patrol unit that disappeared after they raised the alarm about an intrusion of masked and armed men in the area.
The statements follow weeks of heightened tensions between the countries.
Went up on high alert
At the end of May, violence broke out after protesters tried to occupy the municipality hall in Zvecan in northern Kosovo to stop the newly elected government in the city. The unrest led Serbia to put its military forces on high alert. Over 30 soldiers from the NATO-led international peacekeeping force Kfor were injured.
Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but Serbia has not accepted the breakaway. In the Serb-dominated northern part of Kosovo, opposition to the central government is strong.