European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano said the Serbian authorities know very well what they are supposed to do and what is expected of them when they are asked for full and unconditional cooperation in investigating the September 24 incident in the village of Banjska, northern Kosovo.

We expect Serbia’s full and unconditional cooperation, as for how this will be done, that is up to Serbia. If there is a will there is a way, there are many ways and it is not up to us to talk about that, said Stano.

“Our Serbian partners know very well what they are expected to do and what they should do,” Stano said when asked by the Beta agency which institutions Belgrade should cooperate with.

He reiterated that the European Union (EU) will decide on what steps to take next once it has a clear picture of what happened in Banjska and who was behind it.

The spokesman said the EU is ready, when its members agree on it, to consider measures against Serbia if there is no de-escalation or if there is additional escalation.

In this phase we must first see steps toward a meaningful de-escalation, a return to dialogue and a full and complete investigation into the events of September 24, he added.

Stano stressed that the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina should continue.

He said both sides need to understand that the dialogue needs to be renewed and both sides must engage themselves in a meaningful way in attempts to reach the compromises necessary for normalizing relations.

Armed clashes broke out on September 24 between a group of Serbs and the Kosovo Police in the Banjska village in northern Kosovo in which one Kosovo police officer and three Serbs were killed.