Mayors in the north of Kosovo should perform their duties outside the municipal facilities and the Police should be withdrawn from nearby areas.

This was the request of the United States for Kosovo on Wednesday, after three days of tension in the north.

In the official statement on the website of the US Department of State, Secretary Antony Blinken said that it was Kosovo's decision to force the entry into the municipal buildings in the north of the new mayors, which prompted the escalation of tensions.

"The decision of the Government of Kosovo to force entry into municipal buildings escalated tensions sharply and unnecessarily. Prime Minister Kurti and his Government should ensure that elected mayors perform their interim duties from alternative locations outside municipal buildings and withdraw police forces from the vicinity. President Vu?i? and the Government of Serbia must lower the security status of the Armed Forces of Serbia and ask the Kosovo Serbs to stop challenging KFOR and refrain from further violence," the communiqué reads.

A day ago, the USA announced that it has decided to sanction Kosovo for the Government's insistence on placing the mayors of the municipalities in the north in the municipal buildings, which has incited riots from the local Serbs.

The first decision was to exclude Kosovo from the large military exercise "Defender Europe 2023", says the American ambassador, Jeffrey Hovenier. As a result of violence by Serbian hooligans, 30 KFOR soldiers were injured. Three of them were wounded by gunshots.