Kosovo closes main border crossing with Serbia

Conflict between countries in the Balkans is not new. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.

Unrest recently erupted again after the Kosovo government decided last summer that all cars in the country must have Kosovo Albanian license plates — something some 50,000 Kosovo Serbs have refused.

Kosovar authorities announced on Wednesday that the main border crossing with neighboring Serbia had been closed due to unrest.

The arrested policeman was released

For a month, Kosovo Serbs in northern Kosovo have set up roadblocks and barricades in towns. Protesters are demanding the release of an arrested Serbian police officer. He was arrested in December on suspicion of trying to vandalize polling stations and attacking police officers in Kosovo with ethnic Albanian roots.

At lunchtime on Wednesday, a court in the Kosovar capital Pristina announced that the arrested policeman should be released from custody and instead placed under house arrest, Reuters reported.

Blames Russia

Earlier this week, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic escalated the conflict He ordered maximum alert On the border with Kosovo.

Kosovo’s Interior Minister Xhelai Svecla has accused Serbia of destabilizing Kosovo with the support of Russia. Serbia, for its part, denies the allegations and says it wants to protect the country’s Serbian minority.

Russia has also denied the allegations, but expressed its support for Serbia.

According to Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is in talks with the US, UK, France, Italy and Germany on how the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia can be resolved.