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Kosovo closed its largest border crossing with Serbia after Serbs erected more roadblocks amid one of the region’s worst crises in years, police said on Wednesday.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade refused to recognize and encouraged Kosovo’s 120,000 Serbs to rebel against Pristina’s authority — especially in the Serb-majority north.
The latest trouble erupted on Dec. 10, when Serbs set up roadblocks in protest of the arrest of a former policeman suspected of involvement in an attack on ethnic Albanian police – effectively blocking traffic at two border crossings.
Kosovo police and international peacekeepers have been attacked in multiple shootings after the barricades were set up, while the Serbian armed forces were also on high alert this week.
Late Tuesday, dozens of demonstrators on the Serbian side of the border used trucks and tractors to block traffic towards Merdare, the largest crossing between the neighboring countries – a move that forced Kosovo police to close the entry point on Wednesday.
“This illegal blockade prevents the free movement and circulation of people and goods, so we invite our citizens and compatriots to use other border points for circulation,” Kosovo police said in a statement.
Pristina also asked NATO-led peacekeepers to remove roadblocks erected on Kosovo territory.
Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said on Wednesday that Belgrade was “ready to reach an agreement” but did not specify other details.
Vucevic described the roadblocks as a “democratic and peaceful” means of protest, adding that Serbia had “open communication” with Western diplomats about resolving the issue.
“We are all concerned about the situation and where this is going…Serbia is ready for a deal,” Vucevic told state-controlled public broadcaster RTS.
– Russia supports ally Serbia –
Northern Kosovo has been under tension since November, when hundreds of Serb staff in the Kosovo police and judiciary, including judges and prosecutors, resigned.
They protested a controversial decision to ban Serbs living in Kosovo from using Belgrade-issued vehicle license plates – a policy that was eventually repealed by Pristina.
Mass strikes have created a security vacuum in Kosovo that Pristina has sought to fill by deploying police of Albanian origin in the region.
Russia on Wednesday expressed support for its ally Serbia and said it was monitoring developments “very closely”, while Germany warned against increasing its military presence near the Kosovo border.
“We support all the actions Belgrade is taking,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
But he added that “Serbia is a sovereign country and it would be fundamentally wrong to look for some kind of disruptive Russian influence here”.
According to Peskov, “Serbia is defending the rights of Serbs living in difficult conditions nearby. When these rights are violated, they will naturally react harshly.”
However, for Germany, “the strengthening of its military presence near the border with Serbia and Kosovo sends a completely wrong signal”.
“The nationalist rhetoric we’ve heard from Serbia over the past few weeks is completely unacceptable,” foreign ministry spokesman Christopher Berg said.
Berlin also urged Belgrade to help dismantle “illegal” roadblocks erected by Serbs in northern Kosovo.
This week, the European Union and several international ambassadors condemned four recent attacks on journalists covering the conflict.
Kosovo’s population of 1.8 million is mainly ethnic Albanian.
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