Kosovo asks NATO to airlift a Serb detainee as tensions rise

A banner reading “Kurti, Kosovo is not your turf it is our ancestral land” is seen as local Serbs carry a protest against the government near a roadblock in Rudare, near the northern part of the ethnically-divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Miodrag Draskic

PRISTINA (Reuters) -Kosovo has asked NATO troops to airlift a former Serb policeman who was detained two weeks ago but could not be transferred elsewhere because local Serbs demanding his release set up barricades to prevent him being moved.

Dejan Pantic was arrested on Dec. 10 on charges of assaulting serving police officers during a previous protest.