Sehar Timings Mar 30 - Ramazan 19

Lahore
LHR
04:35 AM
Karachi
KHI
05:11 AM
Islamabad
ISB
04:37 AM
Peshawar
PWR
04:41 AM
Quetta
QTA
05:06 AM

News

Barricades at Kosovo-Serbia border dismantled

October 2, 2021 09:19 PM


Kosovo Serbs on Saturday removed vehicles they had positioned to block roads leading to border with Serbia, after Belgrade and Pristina agreed to end a tense deadlock.

The former foes were at loggerheads for nearly two weeks after Kosovo banned cars with Serbian registration plates from entering its territory -- mirroring a years-long Serbian practice against vehicles travelling the other way.

Kosovo dispatched special police units to oversee the ban's implementation, angering local Serbs who blocked the roads leading to the border.

Serbia responded by deploying armoured vehicles close to the frontier and flying fighter jets over the border region which prompted foreign diplomats to press the two sides to calm tensions and prevent further escalation.

According to a European Union-brokered deal struck Thursday in Brussels, Kosovo was to remove the special police by Saturday and the local Serbs to dismantle the barricades.

NATO-led peacekeepers replaced the Kosovo special police that withdrew on Saturday.

The NATO-led peacekeepers from the KFOR mission will be deployed at the border for the next two weeks, according to the deal.

The removal of barricades and tents in which Serb protesters were sleeping at the roads leading to the two border crossings in Kosovo's tense north was carried out without incident, an AFP correspondent reported.

"It's great that it's all over. We showed Pristina that special police have nothing to do here," a 33-year-old ethnic Serb, who identified him as Slavko, told AFP.

"We don't mind KFOR or ordinary police at crossings."

The traffic slowly resumed at the Jarinje crossing with the first trucks that were blocked there for days crossing the border.

In Brussels, the two sides also agreed to put stickers over national symbols on the  number plates, a provisional solution until a permanent one is reached.

Both Serbia and Kosovo claimed they had secured the agreement they desired.

The latest row between Serbia and ethnic-Albanian majority Kosovo, that involves the sensitive issue of Kosovo's Serb minority, was the worst in years.

Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a war between independence-seeking ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serbian forces.

Roughly 100 countries, including most EU members and the US have recognised the move, but not Serbia or its allies China and Russia. 

EU-brokered dialogue between the two Balkans neighbours, launched a decade ago, has so far failed to achieve normalisation of their ties.

 

 



Most Read

  1. Man murders young sister by smothering her with pillow in Toba Tek Singh Man murders young sister by smothering her with pillow in Toba Tek Singh
  2. Aitchison College students, parents stage protest against principal’s resignation Aitchison College students, parents stage protest against principal’s resignation
  3. Five Chinese among six killed in Shangla suicide bombing Five Chinese among six killed in Shangla suicide bombing
  4. Sahiba meets her father for the first time Sahiba meets her father for the first time
  5. Maaz Safder regrets 4-year relationship with wife Saba Maaz Safder regrets 4-year relationship with wife Saba
  6. ‘Khaie's incredible ending receives rave reviews and big applause ‘Khaie's incredible ending receives rave reviews and big applause

Opinion

  1. IMEC to sabotage CPEC
    IMEC to sabotage CPEC

    By Dr Asif Channer

  2. 1947 TO FORM 47
    1947 TO FORM 47

    By Dr Asif Channer

  3. Beijing wants to further highlight industrial sector in its country and take scientific innovation to new heights....
    Beijing wants to further highlight industrial sector in its country and take scientific innovation to new heights....

    By Ali Ramay

  4. Global race: China will reduce its unnecessary expenses
    Global race: China will reduce its unnecessary expenses

    By Ali Ramay

  5. Channer Pir: The Great Saint of Cholistan
    Channer Pir: The Great Saint of Cholistan

    By Dr Asif Channer

  6. Literate the Religious Illiterate
    Literate the Religious Illiterate

    By Dr Asif Channer