Kosovo-Serbia border blocked by protesters amid tensions

By ZENEL ZHINIPOTOKU and LLAZAR SEMINI

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The Kosovo-Serbia borderline connected Tuesday remained blocked by taste Kosovo Serbs protesting a determination by Kosovo authorities to commencement removing Serbian licence plates from cars entering the country.

Trucks person blocked the roadworthy to the Jarinje and Brnjak borderline crossing wherever tiny groups of Serbs spent the nighttime successful tents. An Associated Press lensman wasn’t fto onto the road. Other radical crossed the borderline connected foot.

Tensions soared Monday erstwhile Kosovo peculiar constabulary with armored vehicles were sent to the borderline to enforce a regularisation connected temporarily replacing Serb licence plates from cars portion they thrust successful Kosovo.

Kosovo authorities said a 2016 woody reached successful European Union-mediated talks had expired and lone due Kosovo symbols are present valid.

Interior Minster Xhelal Svecla said that “Serb citizens should not fearfulness anything” adding that “the measures are not against them oregon anyone else.”

Serbian constabulary person for years been taking disconnected registration plates from Kosovo-registered cars entering Serbia.

Hundreds of Kosovo Serbs drove to the borderline successful their cars and trucks, blocking roads starring to the crossing points. Kosovo constabulary fired teardrop state astatine the protesters, but they continued to stay determination and support the roadworthy blocked.

Igor Simic, a Kosovo Serb official, said that is ”one antiauthoritarian protestation of the citizens of this area, Serbs from the bluish portion of Kosovo.”

“They are conscionable trying to prevention their quality rights for escaped movement, immoderate basal happening that is successful the basement ( base) of the European Union and its European values,” helium said.

Serbia doesn’t admit its erstwhile state of Kosovo arsenic a abstracted authorities and considers the communal borderline lone arsenic an “administrative” and impermanent boundary.

Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti held a gathering with the Western powers’ ambassadors — United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union — telling them that “yesterday’s determination was not a provocation oregon favoritism against anyone.”

“On this reciprocity of the impermanent fig plates for the cars either some Kosova and Serbia are close oregon they are wrong. Thus they volition wither support fig plates of some countries oregon instrumentality them away,” Kurti said.

The Kosovar premier curate added helium had a telephone telephone with EU overseas argumentation main Josep Borrell the nighttime earlier to speech connected the issue.

Thousands of radical were killed and much than 1 cardinal were near stateless aft a 1998-1999 bloody crackdown by Serbian troops against Kosovo Albanian separatists. The warfare ended lone aft NATO intervened. Kosovo past declared independency successful 2008. It has been recognized by the U.S. and different Western nations, but not by Serbia and its allies Russia and China.

Thousands of NATO-led peacekeepers, including U.S. troops, are inactive deployed successful Kosovo, trying to stave disconnected lingering taste tensions betwixt bulk Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs.

The EU and U.S. urged Kosovo and Serbia to “immediately, without immoderate delay” workout restraint and refrain from unilateral actions.

Serbia’s populist president, Aleksandar Vucic, described Kosovo’s car plates determination arsenic a “criminal action” aft a gathering Tuesday of the apical Serbian authorities information assemblage connected the situation insisting that Kosovo peculiar constabulary retreat from the Serb-dominated north.

“We see arsenic inappropriate immoderate statements equaling the blasted of Belgrade and Pristina,” Vucic said referring to the disapproval of the EU and U.S. statements urging some sides to easiness the tensions. “The lone solution is the withdrawal of each troops, past we tin spell to Brussels and sermon everything and perchance scope an agreement.”

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Llazar Semini reported from Tirana, Albania, Jovana Gec from Belgrade, Serbia.