Kosovo

The move comes as tensions between ethnic Serbs and Pristina grow. Patrolling With KFOR: NATO-led International Peacekeeping Force In Kosovo.

The last time was in November when several drones Serbia does not recognize the sovereignty of its former province. [accusing](https://www.dw.com/en/serbia-places-troops-on-highest-alert-amid-kosovo-tensions/a-64215928) Belgrade of “acting with all available means against the constitutional order of the Republic of Kosovo.”

Scuffles have broken out between Kosovo's security forces and the troubled nation's Serbian minority. Kosovo police say they suffered three successive firearm ...

Serbs have defied international demands to remove barricades in the region. “By the orders of the president of Serbia and commander in chief of the army of Serbia, I have ordered full combat readiness of all units of the ministry of interior of Serbia. Serbia’s Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic confirmed that Serbian security forces are increasingly active in the border area with Kosovo to protect Serbs. Kosovo’s interior minister Xhelal Svecla has accused Serbia of seeking to destabilize his nation by spreading fake news. Scuffles have broken out between Kosovo’s security forces and the troubled nation’s Serbian minority. And not only that, how we will protect our people in the north of Kosovo and Metohija after Albanians were armed and raised their combat readiness,” he explained.

Serbian armed forces were on "the highest level" of alert, Defence Minister Milos Vucevic has said, highlighting the Balkan country's increasingly strained ...

I do not consider it a problem." "Serbia's president ... "So this is something that the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić wants to distract attention from and the easiest way to do it is to increase tensions with Serbia’s neighbours." Mr Bielamowicz said the Balkans have not been "that instable for many, many years" and that there are "political forces both in the region and outside of it who just want to leverage the concerns, the worries that people share to realise their political objectives". ordered the Serbian army to be on the highest level of combat readiness, that is to the level of the use of armed force," Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said in a statement. Meanwhile, an analyst for the Balkan region with the Institute of New Europe in Krakow, Jakub Bielamowicz, has said he does not expect tensions there to spiral "in a military way".

Protesting Serbs in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo erected new barricades on Tuesday, hours after Serbia said it had put its ...

Kosovo has for years wanted the approximately 50,000 Serbs in the north to switch their Serbian car licence plates to ones issued by Pristina, as part of the government's desire to assert authority over its territory. The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), which arrived in 2008, still has around 200 special police officers there. Serbia, however, still considers Kosovo to be an integral part of its territory and rejects suggestions it is whipping up tensions and conflict within its neighbour's borders.

RIGA - The level of threats Latvian soldiers are facing in Kosovo has not increased multiple times, but intention of the people who fired shots ...

Upon their return to base, it was found that neither of the two patrol cars had been damaged. "Our goal is to complete our tasks in full together with our allies. "At any rate, this is a peacekeeping mission, there are two conflicting sides, and such incidents can be expected also in the future," Kalnins said.

Three decades after the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia, the ethnic hostilities that ignited the conflict linger on. Kosovo declared its independence from ...

[arrested on suspicion](/news/terminal/RNARAKDWLU6A) of terrorism, members of the community responded by protesting and blocking roads. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic [raised the prospect](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-12/eu-us-demand-end-to-violence-in-kosovo-return-to-negotiations) of sending troops into Kosovo to protect the Serb minority. And now, Serbia’s army has been [ordered on high alert](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-26/serbian-army-put-on-highest-alert-over-kosovo-tensions) after weeks of rising tensions between authorities in Kosovo and the local Serb minority there.

Three decades after the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia, the ethnic hostilities that ignited the conflict linger on. Kosovo declared its independence from ...

In turn, the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo have used the war in Ukraine to intensify their rhetoric. While the EU remains the key investor in both nations, progress in their efforts to join the bloc has been slow. Kosovo’s Kurti has accused Serbia of serving Russian interests, while Serbia’s Vucuc has said Kosovo officials are trying to exploit alarm over Ukraine for their own purposes. Protests erupted in Kosovo in 1981 following the death of Yugoslavia’s long-ruling Communist dictator Josip Broz Tito. In August, authorities sought to force the minority Serbs to switch to car plates and personal documents issued by the Kosovar rather than the Serbian government. Three decades after the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia, the ethnic hostilities that ignited the conflict linger on.

Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla accused Belgrade of supporting Serbian protesters as a means to destabilise Kosovo.

They see Belgrade as their capital and want to keep their Serbian licence plates. [car licence plates](/news/2022/11/22/eu-raises-alarm-over-escalating-serbia-kosovo-car-plates-dispute). Their protests follow earlier unrest over the issue of

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Kosovo closed its biggest border crossing on Wednesday after protesters blocked it on the Serbian side to support their ethnic kin in Kosovo in refusing to ...

They have the support of many Serbs in Serbia and its government. 10, Serbs in northern Kosovo have exchanged fire with police and erected more than 10 roadblocks in and around Mitrovica. But KFOR has no authority to act on Serbian soil. or go through North Macedonia," Kosovo's Foreign Ministry said on its Facebook page, announcing closure of the Merdare crossing. The obstruction is preventing thousands of Kosovars who work elsewhere in Europe from returning home for holidays. 10, only three entry points between the two countries remain open.

Pristina closure of the Merdare crossing on Kosovo's eastern border comes as tensions with its Balkans neighbour spiral.

“And, of course, we support Belgrade in the actions that are being taken.” They have the support of many Serbs in Serbia and its government. Germany’s government also voiced alarm over the ongoing tensions. On Tuesday, two more roadblocks were erected in the north. But KFOR has no authority to act on Serbian soil. NATO’s mission in Kosovo said on Wednesday that it supported dialogue between all parties to defuse tensions in the north of the country.

Protesting Serbs in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo erected new barricades on Tuesday, hours after Serbia said it had put its ...

[NATO](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/28/world/nato-patrols-kosovo-serbia-border-intl/index.html) has about 3,700 troops stationed in Kosovo to maintain the peace. Kosovo has for years wanted the approximately 50,000 Serbs in the north to switch their Serbian car license plates to ones issued by Pristina, as part of the government’s desire to assert authority over its territory. The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), which arrived in 2008, still has around 200 special police officers there. Serbs in Kosovo want to create an association of majority-Serb municipalities that would operate with greater autonomy. Serbia, however, still considers Kosovo to be an integral part of its territory and rejects suggestions it is whipping up tensions and conflict within its neighbor’s borders. Ethnic Serbs, who do not recognise the Pristina government or Kosovan state institutions, account for 5% of Kosovo’s 1.8 million people, with ethnic Albanians making up about 90%.

Political leaders maintained their heated rhetoric as the crisis entered its 19th with Serbs erecting new barricades to block roads including an important ...

That is our position and I hope that this [ban] will not happen again,” Hill told Nova.rs on Tuesday. “Why is someone so hysterically insisting on removing the barricades? It can only go on for days,” Kurti told media on Tuesday. Serbian Army troops are still in position after being deployed near the border with Kosovo. Two other barricades were installed by local Serbs in Serb-majority north Kosovo on Tuesday morning. This was

Belgrade puts troops on high alert as ethnic Serbs resist Pristina's authority.

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Kosovo has closed its biggest border crossing with Serbia after protesters blocked it on the Serbian side to support their ethnic kin in Kosovo in refusing ...

They have the support of many Serbs in Serbia and its government. Around 50,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo refuse to recognise the government in Pristina or the status of Kosovo as a separate country. Two border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo were closed on 10 December and a third one, the biggest one for road freight, Merdare, was closed to traffic on Wednesday, disrupting journeys of Kosovars working elsewhere in Europe from returning home for the holidays. For more than 20 years, Kosovo has been a source of tension between the West, which backed its independence, and Russia, which supports Serbia in its efforts to block Kosovo's membership of global organisations including the United Nations. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic who met Serbs from northern Kosovo in the Serbian town of Raska said the process of removing barricades will begin in the morning. Kosovo Serbs who have been blocking roads in northern Kosovo for 19 days have agreed to start removing barricades from tomorrow morning, bowing to calls by the United States and European Union to defuse tensions.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic put his nation's military on high alert on Monday to respond if violence erupts between neigboring Kosovo's Serb minority and ...

The lawyer for a former Kosovo Serb policeman has been ordered released from prison and placed under house arrest.

“We have given KFOR the time and space needed to act, but of course, this time is quickly running out,” he warned. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. “This is not a simple process, and can’t be done in two hours, as some imagined.” About 4,000 NATO-led peacekeepers have been stationed in Kosovo since a 1998-99 separatist war ended with Serbia losing control over what was then one of its provinces. The Dec. He has been ordered released from prison and placed under house arrest.

Kosovo closed its biggest border crossing point with Serbia on Wednesday (28 December) after protestors blocked it on the Serbian side, adding more tensions ...

“Placing barricades on the road is an illegal, unacceptable action and will not be tolerated. Setting up barricades is an illegal and unacceptable action and will not be tolerated”, he warned. On Wednesday, he said the time given to KFOR to take action was running out. On Tuesday, ethnic Serbs put up two barricades in Mitrovica and Zvecan. Attacks on the central election commission, police, EULEX (the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo), and even journalists have been reported, including with gunfire and grenades. After being held in custody since 10 December, he was put under house arrest on Wednesday afternoon.

The United States, NATO and European Union urged maximum restraint in the north of Kosovo, where authorities closed a third border crossing on Wednesday ...

They have the support of many Serbs in Serbia and its government. Since then, Serbs in northern Kosovo have exchanged fire with police and erected more than 10 roadblocks, demanding his release. Two border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo were closed on Dec. Around 50,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo refuse to recognise the government in Pristina or the status of Kosovo as a separate country. 10 for assaulting a serving police officer. MITROVICA, Kosovo, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Kosovo Serbs who have been blocking roads in northern Kosovo for 19 days have agreed to start removing barricades from Thursday morning, bowing to calls by the United States and European Union to defuse tensions.

A former Kosovo Serb policeman whose detention triggered a major crisis between Serbia and Kosovo has been ordered to be released from prison and placed ...

About 4,000 Nato-led peacekeepers have been stationed in Kosovo since a 1998-99 separatist war ended with Serbia losing control over what was then one of its provinces. Mr Pantovic said carrying out the order could prove problematic as Kosovo officers would need to cross the Serb barricades while transporting Pantic. Pantic was detained for “terrorism” after allegedly assaulting a Kosovo police officer during an earlier protest.

The text of the following statement was released by the State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel and Spokesperson of the EU High ...

This includes, in particular, fair trial guarantees, as well as protection and equal treatment for members of non-majority communities in Kosovo. The United States of America will support the European Union’s work through its Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX). At the same time, rule of law must be respected, and any form of violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Protests by ethnic Serbs against Pristina's authority, including walkouts in government offices and the installation of roadblocks in cities and along the ...

“KFOR remains extremely vigilant and has the capability and personnel to provide... With Moscow one of Belgrade’s biggest allies, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine gave the West a sense of urgency to resolve the Kosovo issue. Ethnic Serbs perceived that as a threat and the ensuing protests became highly volatile. of all communities”, said spokespeople for the EU’s foreign policy arm and the US state department. “The risk is doubly real because Belgrade is backing [ethnic] Serbs to resist being integrated on Kurti’s terms.” Protests by ethnic Serbs against Pristina’s authority, including walkouts in government offices and the installation of roadblocks in cities and along the border, have continued for weeks.