The new rules provide that anyone entering Kosovo with a Serbian identity card has a temporary document during their stay in the country.
Le Monde with AFP
Tensions in northern Kosovo, where a Serbian minority lives, broke out on Sunday evening at the border with Serbia in order to protest against the new border rules which were to come into force Monday 1
Barricades have been erected on roads leading to Serbia and shots fired from the Kosovare police. The Kosovo government decided on Monday to postpone the entry into force of these new rules on Monday. The postponement was announced in a government statement after a meeting with the United States ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Honevier.
The new rules provide that anyone entering Kosovo with a Serbian identity card has a temporary document during their stay in the country. Pristina had also given Kosovo Serbs for two months to replace the Serbian license plates from their vehicles with plates from the Kosovo Republic.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Sunday that it was a reciprocity measure, insofar as Serbia – which does not recognize the independence of its former Albanian majority proclaimed in 2008 – requires as much of the Kosovars who enter its territory.
These measures aroused strong tensions on Sunday. Kosovare police said they had been the target of gunshots, without making injuries, and barricades had been erected on roads leading to Serbia. The two crossing points were closed to traffic. In its press release, the Kosovar government demanded that “all barricades be lifted and the complete freedom of movement restored” Monday.
“Complex situation”
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, praised the decision on Sunday evening in a tweet, calling for the “the immediate lifting of all the roadblocks”.
Sunday evening, hundreds of Kosovo Serbs had massaged trucks, tanker trucks and other heavy vehicles on the roads leading to the passing points of Jarinje and Brnjak, noted a journalist from the France-Presse agency. A crowd had then settled around the barricades, with the intention of spending the night.
The Serbs of Kosovo do not recognize the authority of Pristina, nor the independence of Kosovo, and remain loyal to Belgrade on which they depend financially. In a speech to the nation on Sunday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the situation in Kosovo had “never been so complex” for Serbia and the Serbs who live there. “The atmosphere has been brought to a boil,” said Vucic, adding that “Serbia will win” if the Serbs are attacked.
For his part, Albin Kurti accused Mr. Vucic of triggering “troubles”. “The next hours, days and weeks can be difficult and problematic,” wrote Prime Minister Kosovar on Facebook.