Europe News: Kosovo's prime minister, Albin Kurti, has requested an increase in NATO-led peacekeepers on the northern border with Serbia due to the entry of illega
Located at the foot of the Balkans' Accursed Mountains, the Decani Monastery is seen as a symbol of Serbia's religious heritage in Kosovo and a "miracle" of survival through many conflicts. During the Kosovo war and its aftermath, the monastery was a refuge for people of several religious beliefs, a haven from ethnic rivalries.
Till this week, some 3,800 NATO troops were stationed in Kosovo, primarily on peacekeeping duties, but also to watch over the borders, especially the one with Serbia.
International efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo intensified Wednesday as ethnic Serbs held more protests in a northern town where recent clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers sparked fears of renewed conflict in the troubled region.
Thirty members of the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR were injured during clashes with ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo on May 29 after they attempted to occupy the municipal headquarters in Zvecan, where an ethnic Albanian mayor had taken office last week.