NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo have rejected Serbia's demand to allow its security forces to return to the province amid continued tensions, the Serbian president said Sunday.

KFOR peacekeepers, who deployed to Kosovo in 1999 after NATO bombing drove the Serbian army and police out of the area, responded to AP NEWS that there was no need for Serbian forces to return, President Aleksandar Vucic said..

Serbia made its demand in mid-December when tensions in Kosovo soared over the arrest of an ethnic Serb ex-police officer, leading to road closures in the mostly ethnic Serb north of the country..

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Tensions were later resolved amid efforts by the European Union and the United States to promote dialogue between former enemies in the Balkan war, mediated by the EU.. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's 2008 independence, and the dispute remains a potential hotbed of tension.

In the most recent incident last week in central Kosovo, an off-duty Kosovo security officer shot and wounded two ethnic Serbs, including an 11-year-old boy. The man was arrested following an incident near the town of Strpce, Kosovo police said..

On Sunday, hundreds of people protested in the town of Strpce over the shooting, demanding increased security for tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo.. Another group of several hundred people gathered in the northern city of Kosovska Mitrovica to make a rare protest against Vucic's policies, which they say are too conciliatory towards Kosovo..

The conflict in Kosovo erupted when separatist ethnic Albanians began an uprising against Serbian rule, and Belgrade responded with a brutal crackdown that prompted a NATO intervention. Some 13,000 people died in the conflict, mostly ethnic Albanians..

Serbia insists hundreds of its security forces are eligible for redeployment under post-war UN resolution. Belgrade has said the return of its troops to Kosovo will help ease tensions, a move strongly denied by Kosovo and Western officials..

Vucic said the response to Serbia's demand was expected as the West backed Kosovo's independence. Serbia is leaning on Russia and China to maintain its claim to the former province, which many Serbs see as the heart of the country..

The West " — I did not expect another answer from KFOR"

Serbia and Kosovo have been told they must normalize relations if they want to move towards EU membership. A senior US delegation will visit the region next week to help move the stalled cause forward..

Kosovo declared independence in 2008. At the same time, Serbia considers the region to be its territory.. Kosovo's independence is recognized by half of the UN countries, including the United States and most of the EU and NATO countries. Ukraine and Russia did not recognize the independence of Kosovo.