Mayors of ten Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo have sent an open letter to the President Aleksandar Vucic, TV Most reported.

Berlin’s stance on change of borders in the Balkans would look differently, if Washington would support an idea of Serbian President Vucic on delineation, analyst Dejan Vuk Stankovic told Tanjug news agency.

At the same time, he assessed that the statement of German Chancellor Merkel is not a principled stance against delineation, since Germany by recognizing Kosovo, has already delineated it from Serbia.

Serbia’s president abandoned his plan to forge a quick deal on repairing ties with Kosovo after German Chancellor Angel Merkel said there would be no redrawing of borders in the Balkans.

An exchange of territory between Kosovo and Serbia could provoke a chain reaction and cause instability across the Balkans, and the West needs to wake up to the potentially disastrous consequences.

Last year, the US Republican who has been accused of being “Putin’s favourite Congressman”, Dana Rohrabacher, sent a letter to the president of Serbia asking the Serbian leadership to consider exchanging territories with Kosovo.

Prominent Kosovo-based Serbian Orthodox priest Sava Janjic has come under intense criticism from the Belgrade authorities and pro-government media for opposing a territory swap between Serbia and Kosovo.

The abbot of the Decani monastery, Sava Janjic, has been facing daily criticism from Serbian officials and tabloids close to the government for his opposition to Belgrade’s idea of partitioning Kosovo as part of a deal with Pristina.

Two senior Serbian officials on Tuesday criticized official Belgrade for not doing enough to solve crimes committed against Kosovo Serbs.

Commission for Missing Persons chief Veljko Odalovic told the “Unpunished Crimes” gathering that the authorities in Belgrade had “taken part in events which were not good for the state”. There are no inmates convicted of war crimes in Serbian prisons, they have been freed or pardoned, he said.

The Pristina authorities urged the EU and US to intervene after Serbia arrested a German citizen of Kosovo origin on suspected war-related charges while travelling back from his summer holiday in Kosovo.

Kosovo’s foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned the arrest of German citizen Ibrahim Matoshi as he crossed the Serbian border and demanded an end to what it called the “witch hunt by the Serbian authorities” against people of Kosovo origin.

By Perparim Isufi, Maja Zivanovic BIRN Pristina, Belgrade

Analysts say recent heated rhetoric about the possibility of border changes will affect the popularity of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci - but probably not enough to unseat them.

The recent intensive exchange of statements about border ‘corrections’ between Serbia and Kosovo will affect the popularity of both presidents, analysts believe.

Serbian authorities have banned recently officials employed in Kosovo institutions to enter Serbia, and the reason behind such a decision is “red list” where their names are, Serbian media reported referring to Pristina-based Gazeta Express.

Pristina chief negotiator in Brussels talks, Avni Arifi, who is also chief of the PM Haradinaj's Cabinet, said Kosovo would undertake reciprocal measures. Arifi added that Kosovo citizens are also banned to enter Serbia.

Moscow is ready to back Republic of Srpska (RS) in raising the issue of its independence, especially in the context of the talks on a final solution for Kosovo. Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti writes this on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, this message should be handed over to the president of the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who will visit Sarajevo and Banja Luka on September 16-17.