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Kosovo cuts off Serbian mobile phone providers, Belgrade protests
Apr 23, 2010, 18:10 GMT
Pristina, Kosovo/Belgrade - Kosovan authorities said Friday that they have shut down unlicensed Serbian mobile phone installations in their country.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said in a statement that it 'has taken action preventing unauthorized illegal activity of non-licensed operators, who have extended their network within the territory of Kosovo.'
Serbian mobile phone operators had continued extending their services in northern and central Kosovo via installations set up before the 1999 war, which ended with NATO ousting Serbian security forces from the country to stop ethnic bloodshed.
The mainly Albanian Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
The shutdown affected users of Serbian mobile providers in central Kosovo, Belgrade media reported.
The Serbian government condemned the measure as a 'new attempt at isolating Serbs' who remain in Kosovo.
Though the United States and the majority of European Union nations recognize Kosovo, Belgrade continues refusing to even acknowledge it. Serbia insists that Kosovo is its territory and has made it a policy not to communicate with Pristina over any issue.
Serbia also encourages Serbs in their enclaves, especially in the northern part of Kosovo, to resist the central Pristina authorities.
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