Russia has asked the West to stop "deceitful propaganda" about "desperate" Serbs in Kosovo as NATO has deployed troops in the Balkan country.

Police in northern Kosovo fired tear gas to disperse ethnic Serb protestors who had gathered to oppose the installation of ethnic Albanian mayors.

Kosovo and Serbia are given a March deadline to decide whether they want to normalize relations or face the repercussions.

Kosovo's emergency authorities rescued several hundred people from their flooded homes on Thursday and Friday.

Serbian armed forces are put put on the "highest level of combat readiness" on the border with Kosovo amid increasingly strained relations between the two neighboring countries over recent shootings and blockades.

Protesters march through the Serbian capital Belgrade in support of ethnic Serbs who have been blocking main roads in Kosovo in protest against the arrest of a former ethnic Serb police officer.

Tensions have heightened in northern Kosovo after ethnic Serbs on Sunday blocked roads in protest against the arrest of a former ethnic Serb police officer, with the Serbian president warning that his troops are ready to intervene if peace doesn't prevail.