NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called for the facts and accountability to be established in the recent attack on the Ibar-Lepenac water canal in Kosovo, stressing that the attack underlined the fragility of stability in the Western Balkans.

Speaking at a joint media conference with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic Rutte said he wanted to thank the KFOR commander “for the swift deployment of troops to protect critical infrastructure,” adding that NATO “remains committed to ensuring that KFOR fulfills its UN mandate,” NATO reported on its website.

“It is now essential that the facts are established and that those responsible are held to account,” said Rutte.

An explosion in Zubin Potok, northern Kosovo, on November 29 damaged the Ibar-Lepenac canal, which supplies water to multiple cities and the Kosovo Energy Corporation for power plant cooling.