Kosovo: Serbs partly dismantle barricades, NATO not satisfied

Pristina, 28 Oct. (AKI) - After months of tensions, Kosovo Serbs have removed some barricades in northern Kosovo, allowing passage of NATO peacekeepers (KFOR), but NATO said it wasn’t enough and demanded complete removal.

Under pressure from Belgrade, local Serbs on Thursday opened one lane of traffic on the roads in northern Kosovo, but vowed they would not allow passage to European mission EULEX and Kosovo officials.

“Though opening of one traffic lane is a good step in right direction, KFOR demands unconditional freedom of movement for KFOR, EULEX mission and other institutions and citizens,” KFOR spokesman Uwe Nowicki told media.

Kosovo Serbs, who oppose Kosovo independence and make majority population in the north, set up barricades in July in protest against placing of Kosovo police and customs on border crossings of Brnjak and Jarinje leading to Serbia.

After months of stand-off, first KFOR convoys passed to the border crossings on without incidents. But local Serb leader Slavisa Ristic said EULEX would not be allowed passage unless it stopped transporting Kosovo police and customs to Brnjak and Jarinje. EULEX had been transporting Kosovo officials by helicopters.

After outburst of violence in July and September, in which one Kosovo policeman was killed and several people injured, KFOR refrained from using force to remove barricades. Pristina Albanian language media said the peacekeepers were waiting for bad weather, hoping the Serbs would be worn out and give up.

Serbian president Boris Tadic last weekend urged Serbs to dismantle barricades in order to sooth the European Union. Belgrade is expecting to get a status of an official candidate for EU membership in December, but Brussels has tied Serbia’s bid to normalization of situation in Kosovo and establishing “good neighborly relations”.

More than 80 countries, including the United States and 22 out of 27 EU countries, have recognized Kosovo, but Belgrade continues to treat it as Serbia’s province, populated mostly with Albanians.