NATO Forces Remove Serb Barriers in Kosovo

NATO forces began the process of dismantling barricades in northern Kosovo following a confrontation with Kosovo-Serbian protesters, according to reports.

Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops clad in riot gear fired tear gas canisters at around 150 protesters, adding that around eight soldiers were injured in the clashes, according to Radio Free Europe (RFE).

Ethnic minority Serbs in northern Kosovo, have been manning the barricades to protest the control of the Kosovo government in Pristina over that part of the country. The Serbs reject Kosovo’s independence from Serbia declared by majority-ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo in 2008.

Over the past month, Serbs have blocked roads leading to two border areas, Brnjak and Jarinje, according to RFE. The borders were comprised of random objects such as logs, rocks, and parked cars.

When KFOR troops approached, some protesters chanted: “Serbia! Serbia! Serbia!” Another said, “You will not drive us away from here,” according to national Serbian radio station, B 92.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said that both KFOR and protesters should use restraint to prevent tensions from escalating. “Citizens must not resort to violent actions at any cost because they would lead to a downfall,” he told the radio station.

Tadic added that local officials in northern Kosovo should “make decisions that are exclusively in the vital interest of our people in Kosovo and not in the interest of their party chiefs.”