Kosovo’s Serb minority, which has been blocking roads for nearly three weeks, began lifting roadblocks near the border with Serbia on Thursday, paving the way for an easing of one of the region’s worst crises in recent years.
Kosovo police have confirmed the official reopening of the main border crossing with Serbia, which was closed the day before. Footage from Serbian state television RTS showed lines of cars and trucks forming on the Serbian side.
The dismantling of the dams was announced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday evening, after a call for de-escalation launched by Washington and the European Union.
“The barricades will be dismantled, but distrust remains,” Vucic said during a meeting with Kosovo Serb representatives near the Kosovo border, according to comments quoted by RTS.
In a move clearly intended to ease tensions, a court in Pristina earlier the same day ordered the release and placement under house arrest of a former Serbian policeman, Dejan Pantic, whose arrest had sparked the anger of the Serbian minority.
On Thursday morning, the situation in northern Kosovo was calm, with patrols by international peacekeeping forces, according to a correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP). In Mitrovica, two trucks used to block a bridge burned down overnight. The cause of the accident was unknown.
In Rudare near Mitrovica, a dozen protesters were still on a roadblock and expressed their displeasure at the idea of removing it. “It makes no sense, we fought for rights that weren’t won, we feel betrayed,” one of them, 25, told AFP. did not want to give his name.
“Why did we come to the roadblocks if everything ends like this? “Launched another protester, 38, who also requested anonymity.
Blocked traffic
Since December 10, several hundred members of the Serbian minority have erected roadblocks in northern Kosovo to protest against the arrest of the Serbian policeman, paralyzing traffic towards two border crossings with Serbia. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic judged last week that the situation in this region was “on the verge of armed conflict”.
Kosovo police and international peacekeepers have suffered several attacks involving firearms, as Serbia put its armed forces on high alert.
Kosovo, a former Serbian province, declared its independence in 2008, a decade after a deadly war between Serbian forces and Albanian rebels. But Serbia does not recognize it.
Belgrade encourages the Serbian minority — around 120,000 people out of Kosovo’s 1.8 million inhabitants — to refuse all loyalty to Pristina at a time when the Kosovar authorities want to establish their sovereignty over the whole territory.
At the beginning of November, hundreds of Serb policemen integrated into the Kosovo police, as well as judges, prosecutors and other officials left their posts en masse to protest against a decision by Pristina, now suspended, to ban Serbs living in Kosovo from use license plates issued by Serbia.
The United States and the European Union jointly called on Wednesday for “unconditional de-escalation”, ensuring to work with Belgrade “to find a political solution in order to ease tensions and achieve a breakthrough in the interest of stability, safety and well-being of all local populations”.
Russia has reaffirmed its support for Belgrade. “We have very close allied, historical and spiritual relations with Serbia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. “And, of course, we support Belgrade in the actions it takes.”