Kosovo Serbs Block Roads as Border Crossing Tensions Simmer

The Jarinje and Bernjak border crossing points in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo remained blocked on Tuesday morning after local Serbs obstructed the roads with dozens of trucks in protest against changes to border regulations for vehicles with Serbian registration plates, Kosovo media reported.

Kosovo deployed armed police special forces on Monday after the Pristina government imposed the new regulations, which say that people entering Kosovo must change Serbian vehicle licence plates for temporary Kosovo ones when entering the country - as drivers with Kosovo plates have had to do when entering Serbia for the past two decades.

Kosovo media reported that goods transit has been stopped at the Jarinje and Bernjak crossing points, while buses can only take their passengers to the blockade, around 800 metres from the border, leaving them to cross on foot, Kosovo media reported. Some Serb protesters camped out in tents overnight, according to media reports.

Kosovo officials meanwhile insisted that what they described as the 'reciprocity measures' only ensure equal treatment for the citizens of both countries, and claimed that the protesters are being used by politicians from Belgrade.

"The decision ensures equal treatment and free movement for the citizens of both countries," Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani wrote on Facebook post on Monday evening.

Osmani added that the decision "is being strictly implemented at all border crossings, except for two in the north [Bernjak and Jarinje], where local Serbs are being abused by the Serbian government and illegal structures there".

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi told Kosovo public broadcaster KTV on Monday evening that the decision to impose the new regime in the country's ...