NATO removes roadblocks in Kosovo, ethnic Serbs replace them

Sep 27, 2011, 6:32 GMT

Belgrade - NATO peacekeepers dismantled several roadblocks in Kosovo Monday night and Tuesday morning, but new barricades emerged immediately as a tense game of cat and mouse continued in the volatile Serb-dominated north.

The peacekeeping mission, KFOR, used bulldozers to remove tons of gravel that blocked the road to the Jarinje border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia, all news media reported in Belgrade.

The barricade had also blocked passage to a nearby KFOR base. The ethnic Serbs immediately brought more gravel and unloaded it on the same road nearby, TV B92 said.

The news agency Beta said that KFOR used teargas in a raid early Tuesday morning on another road in the north, in the largest Serb enclave in mostly ethnic Albanian Kosovo.

The Serbs erected roadblocks throughout their enclave in mid-September to protest their loss of control over the border crossings to Serbia proper.

They also opened improvised roads to Serbia to circumvent controls. KFOR has closed several of the 'alternate' routes over recent days, but new paths always emerged.

The takeover of the border crossings is a part of Pristina's effort to finally assert its authority over the Serb enclave and sever Belgrade's influence in it.

Kosovo, a former province, declared independence from Belgrade in 2008 and has been recognized by Western leaders, but remains unable to subdue ethnic Serbs, who have Belgrade's political and financial support.

Despite their mutual hostility, Belgrade and Pristina in March embarked on talks under European Union mediation, aiming to resolve issues such as transport, trade and education.

Another round of the talks was due to be held in Brussels on Tuesday, with energy, telecommunications and Serbia's veto of Kosovo's participation in regional initiatives on the agenda.