NATO Kosovo Force monitors road clearance at border crossings

NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) has monitored the unblocking of roads at the border crossings, in northern Kosovo, and has assured that it is “closely following the situation” in the framework of increased tensions with Serbia.

“KFOR is closely following the situation in northern Kosovo with local and international security organizations. Under its UN mandate, KFOR remains firmly committed to security, ready to take the necessary measures to keep Kosovo safe,” he said on his official Twitter account.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti appeared at a press conference Monday alongside Interior Minister Xelal Svecla and called on the international community to react and punish “criminal acts and gangs in Kosovo.”

On Sunday, Serbs erected barricades on the roads leading to Jarinje and Brnjak, protesting the Kosovo government’s decisions on the implementation of a law — already postponed for a month — whereby people from Serbia entering Kosovo would be required to hand over their identity documents, which would be replaced by ones issued in Pristina.

In addition, Serbian-issued car license plates for Kosovo towns with a majority Serb population were to be replaced by official ones from the separatist region. The Kosovo government announced early this morning that the measures will finally come into force in September after an increase in tensions on the border, where Serbia set up barricades.

Local media reported Monday that Kosovo police and KFOR forces have monitored the unblocking of roads to border points between the two countries in a conflict that Svecla revealed has caused at least eleven injuries, as reported by ‘Kosova Sot’.