The French news agency AFP reported on Saturday that Kosovo closed two out of four border crossings with Serbia last night following demonstrations on the Serbian side that blocked traffic. The report highlights that tensions between the two sides have been escalating for months. Pročitaj više

Kosovo’s government initially closed traffic at the Brnjak crossing, followed by the largest crossing, Merdare, in northern Kosovo.

Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Xhelal Svecla, justified the decision, stating that „masked extremists on Serbian territory are selectively and fascistically detaining citizens trying to cross into Serbia, with Serbian authorities standing by,“ AFP reported.

A group of several dozen Serbs had announced blockades at three crossings with Kosovo to prevent movement, AFP noted, adding that in the end, two border crossings were blocked. The protesters claimed they were demonstrating against the closure of parallel administrations led by Serbs in northern Kosovo, where Serbs are the majority.

The blockade will remain in place until Kosovo’s police „withdraw from northern Kosovo and return the usurped institutions to the Serbs,“ the protesters stated. They also called for NATO-led peacekeeping forces (KFOR) to take control of northern Kosovo, AFP reported.

The blockade comes just days after Kosovo authorities raided five municipal offices linked to the Serbian government in areas with ethnic Serbs near the northern border with Serbia, the report continued.

„This operation is the latest in a series aimed at dismantling the parallel system of social services and political offices supported by the Serbian government in Kosovo,“ AFP stated.

Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised citizens to avoid transit through border crossings with Serbia due to the blockades. Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla told reporters on Friday that the threats to block border crossings were „yet another example of Serbia’s provocative and destabilizing actions.“

AFP recalled that tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have persisted since the conflict between Serbian forces and Kosovars in the late 1990s. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move that Serbia refuses to recognize, encouraging Serbs to reject loyalty to Pristina.

The agency concluded by noting that „new tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have been brewing for months, particularly after Kosovo introduced a rule earlier this year making the euro the only legal tender, effectively banning the use of the Serbian dinar.“

According to AFP, these measures have angered Belgrade, which continues to finance healthcare, education, and social welfare systems for the Serbian ethnic minority in Kosovo.