Border tensions rise as Serbs block roads near Kosovo crossings
Local media reported that roads near two border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo, specifically near the villages of Merdare and Jarinje, have been blocked. The blockade is in response to the closure of five Serbian institutions operating in Kosovo by authorities in Pristina.
The village of Merdare is located in southeastern Serbia, while Jarinje is on the Kosovan side in the north of the country. The organizers of the blockades announced their expansion to another road connecting Serbia with Kosovo and a crossing connecting Kosovo with Montenegro.
Protesting Serbs noted that they allow passage for everyone with Serbian documents, except trucks, which are not allowed to pass regardless of whether they have Serbian or Kosovan plates. Serbian police officers are at the blockades, according to the Balkan editor of Radio Free Europe.
"Cars with Serbian license plates are allowed through without issue. The organizers of the blockades stop cars with Kosovan plates and check if the travelers have Serbian documents," the editor reported.
Reaction to the decision of the Kosovo authorities
The blockades are a reaction to the decision of Kosovo authorities to close five Serbian institutions in the north of the country, which is mostly inhabited by Serbs. According to Pristina, the institutions "violated the constitutionality and rights of the Republic of Kosovo".
Protesters are demanding the "liberation of municipalities in northern Kosovo," the reinstatement of the dinar (at the beginning of the year, the euro became Kosovo's sole official currency), and the deployment of NATO peacekeeping forces and UN missions in predominantly Serbian areas.
"We will stay here until the problem of northern Kosovo is solved," the organizers announced.
Ineffective negotiations
Serbia lost control over Kosovo after the NATO military campaign in 1999. It refuses to recognize the independence of its former province, declared in 2008. Kosovo is still home to a Serbian minority, some of whom are concentrated in the northern areas near the border with Serbia.
The European Union organizes meetings between the leaders of the two countries, but they have not made visible progress in normalizing relations. At the end of June, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Kurti traveled to Brussels, but their direct meeting did not take place after the Kosovan leader refused to participate.
