⚡️ If Pristina decides to use violence, situation will spiral out of control, says Serbia's Parliament Kosovo, Metohija Committee's Head

‼️ Serbian Parliament's Kosovo, Metohija Committee's Head: Serbs fed up with systematic bullying that has been going on for years

Amid the rising tensions in the region, Milovan Drecun, chairman of the Serbian parliament's Committee on Kosovo and Metohija, said on Sunday that Serbs in Kosovo have been subjected to systematic bullying for years.

"Serbs are fed up with the systematic bullying that has been going on for years," the politician told Sputnik. "People cannot live under such pressure and constant threat."

‼️ Kosovo's PM Kurti is West's ‘puppet' used to remind Belgrade to join Western bloc against Russia, Serbian Parliament Committee's Chair says

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti is nothing more than a puppet of the West, and is used to apply pressure on Belgrade, in particular on the issue of supporting anti-Russian sanctions, Serbian parliament's Committee on Kosovo and Metohija head Milovan Drecun said on Sunday.

"He is the most common puppet. The West needs this Kurti to remind Serbia that it must fully join the Western bloc, especially when it comes to joining sanctions against Russia," Drecun told Sputnik. "Since Serbia does not agree, they send a signal - if you do not impose sanctions, we will turn a blind eye to Kurti's antics."

‼️ Unconfirmed footage shows Kosovo special forces allegedly heading to Serbian border

‼️ Kosovo’s Kurti calls for order, urges public to not be ‘Misinformed’ in video address

Serbia's breakaway republic of Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti urged the public on Sunday to not succumb to provocations and misinformation amid sharply aggravating tensions in the north of the region, taking the opportunity to also accuse Serbia of escalating the situation.

"Carefully follow the announcements from our government, from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Kosovo Police, and do not allow yourself to be misinformed by the official Belgrade media or any media in Kosovo that knowingly serves them or unknowingly falls prey to them," Kurti said in a video address shared on social media. "The following hours, days and weeks can be challenging and problematic. We are facing the Serbian national-chauvinism that we know well. We will work day and night, we will be at the top of our duties, for you as citizens and for our democratic Republic. And, together we manage to maintain law and order by placing them in every corner of the country."

‼️Ukrainian MP calls on Kiev to 'Defend the Kosovars' with boots on the ground if armed conflict in Kosovo erupts

Ukrainian parliament's member Oleksiy Goncharenko said on Sunday that if Serbia "invades" the self-proclaimed Kosovo, then Kiev should stand up for the Kosovars and use its military for this purpose.

"If Serbia invades #Kosovo, we should defend the Kosovars. [Ukraine] is ready to act with our troops on the ground. [Serbia] is trying to start an aggressive war," Goncharenko wrote in a post on Twitter. "Precisely according to Putin's method. As I said, #Serbia is Putin's Trojan horse in Europe. War anywhere in the world is terrible."

⚡️ Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged the territory's authorities to stop escalating the situation and violating the rights of ethnic Serbs in the region.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, also noted in an earlier remark that police from the separatist Kosovo Republic were preparing a military assault against Serbs living in the region's northern territories. He reiterated that Belgrade would work to maintain peace and urged his fellow citizens not to fall for any provocations that the Pristina government would attempt to depict them as the victims of "Serbian aggression."

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic reacted to Kosovo's Albin Kurti's address in which he accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petr Petkovic of causing the current unrest.

"Everything we see today is the result of Kurti's unilateral moves," Brnabic said on Sunday. "Serbia did nothing to start this crisis, Serbs in Kosovo did absolutely nothing to cause what we are seeing today."

She further stressed that conversely, the unfolding events are "the epilogue of years of mistreatment of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and non-compliance with international agreements."

"President Vucic and Serbia are calling for peace, stability, connection and cooperation, and Albin Kurti is the shame of today's Balkans. Kurti is a man whose only policy is constant violence and constant provocations," she added.

🗣 Serbian President reportedly arrives at General Staff Headquarters amid Kosovo tensions

‼️UN Special Representative urges all to avoid escalation in Northern Kosovo

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK (United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) Caroline Ziadeh is concerned about the situation in northern Kosovo and is calling for restoration of freedom of movement, a UNMIK representative told Sputnik.

"The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK Caroline Ziadeh is following the developments in northern Kosovo with concern," the representative said, adding that Ziadeh "calls for calm, restoration of freedom of movement and avoiding further escalation."

Kosovo police announced on Sunday that there had been shots in the direction of its officers amid the tensions in the disputed border town of Kosovska Mitrovica, but no casualties so far. Police shut down the Jarinje and Brnjak administrative crossing points and air raid sirens were heard in the town, where both Serbs and Albanians were gathering.

"I urge all to address issues in good faith through the EU-facilitated dialogue, to strengthen stability and security for all," Ziadeh said commenting on the Kosovo tensions, as quoted by the UNMIK representative.

🚨 BREAKING | Kosovo government reportedly postpones decision to impose ban on Serbian documents

‼️ EU's Top Diplomat Borrell welcomes Pristina's decision to postpone Serbia document ban

The European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Josep Borrell on Monday welcomed the decision by the authorities of the self-proclaimed Kosovo to postpone the document ban until September 1. He also expressed hope that all the barricades erected by the Serbs will be removed "immediately."

"Welcome Kosovo decision to move measures to 1 September," Borrell wrote on Twitter. "Expect all roadblocks to be removed immediately. Open issues should be addressed through EU-facilitated Dialogue&focus on comprehensive normalisation of relations btwn Kosovo & Serbia, essential for their EU integration paths."

⚡️ EU Envoy Lajcak welcomes Pristina's decision to postpone entry restrictions

The EU envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, has welcomed the decision of the Kosovo authorities to postpone the entry restrictions that caused tensions in the north of Kosovo.

"Welcome decision by Kosovo to accept @JosepBorrell proposal to postpone by 1 month. EU expects all roadblocks to be removed immediately. HRVP [ High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy] Borrell invited Kosovo and Serbia to engage in dialogue on way forward. Grateful to @US AmbKosovo for strong support," Lajcak said on social media shortly after midnight on Sunday.

‼️ Serbs in North Kosovo reportedly putting up posters noting the 'Community of Serb Municipalities' after Pristina postpones doc ban

🎞 'Star Trek' actress Nichelle Nichols dead at 89

Nichelle Nichols, an actress whose role as the communications chief Uhura in the original “Star Trek” franchise in the 1960s helped break ground on TV by showing a Black woman in a position of authority and who shared with co-star William Shatner one of the first interracial kisses on American prime-time television, died July 30 in Silver City, New Mexico. She was 89.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg often said that when she saw “Star Trek” as an adolescent, she screamed to her family: “Come quick, come quick. There’s a Black lady on television and she ain’t no maid!”

Nichols earned accolades for breaking stereotypes for Black actresses, with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. personally encouraging her to stay with the series. She met him at a civil rights gathering in 1967, at a point when she had decided not to return for the show's second season.

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