Problems can only be solved by leaders talking and the people of Kosovo are waiting for them to start political talks, a senior KFOR commander told the Beta news agency on Tuesday.

Colonel Nick Ducic, commander of the US KFOR base Bondsteel, said there is less tension now with people going on vacation and children getting ready to go back to school. “People are also waiting for their political leaders to start political talks,” Colonel Ducic said to agency Beta after the liturgy at the Gracanica Monastery, and added that the EU-mediated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is the way to solve problems.

According to the colonel, KFOR is sometimes concerned when tension rise after people hear news reports that do not reflect the situation on the ground. The KFOR mission remains the same he said. “We are here to secure freedom of movement for everyone and we operate under UN Security Council resolution 1244,” he said.

Asked about Kosovo's intention to transform the Kosovo Security Force into the army, Ducic said that America believed that the Constitution of Kosovo should be changed for that purpose.

"For now, KFOR is well performing this mission so far, and I think that there are more important problems today than the question of whether this transformation will happen or not," Colonel Ducic told Beta.