{"id":5572,"date":"2011-08-08T11:37:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T11:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajetebeqiraj.org\/2016\/10\/15\/roadblocks-removed-as-tense-calm-settles-in-at-serb-kosovo-border-2\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T12:43:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:43:40","slug":"roadblocks-removed-as-tense-calm-settles-in-at-serb-kosovo-border-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajetebeqiraj.org\/en\/roadblocks-removed-as-tense-calm-settles-in-at-serb-kosovo-border-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Roadblocks removed as tense calm settles in at Serb-Kosovo border"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
Tree trunks lying across a road near Mitrovica.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deutsche Welle-English, 8 august 2011.<\/strong>\u00a0 Serb officials in northern Kosovo have agreed to remove roadblocks as per a NATO-brokered deal between Pristina and Belgrade. However, the deal doesn\u2019t necessarily represent warmer relations between the two sides.<\/p>\n

The barricades are gone, but tension remains. An agreement between Kosovo, Serbia, and NATO\u2019s Kosovo Force to remove blockades at two border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo was brokered Friday. But it took personal convincing over the weekend from Serbian Prime Minister Boris Tadic for Serbs in northern Kosovo to accept the deal.<\/p>\n

Even now, the Serb minority in Kosovo is still unhappy with the negotiations and feels abandoned by Serbia, who is pushing for membership in the European Union. Some fear this will cause Serbia to give up its claim to Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.
\nThe blockades to the two border crossings in Brnjak and Jarinje are now being removed. They were set up in protest of Kosovo\u2019s decision to block the import of Serbian goods. Now, though, Kosovo\u2019s embargo can continue to be enforced at the border. Bojana Matic is a pharmacist near one of the border stations and doesn\u2019t want to see control of the border return to Kosovo.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything will be more expensive because we will have to pay duties on goods from Serbia,\u201d she said. \u201cLife is already tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

A solution to crime<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The border trouble is the work of organized criminals, according to Hoxha(Foto Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The border trouble is the work of organized criminals, according to Hoxhaj
\nFrom southern Kosovo, where the Albanian majority lives, maintaining control over the border crossing to Serbia is perfectly justified.<\/p>\n

Kosovar Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj said in an interview with German public radio that if controls on trade at the border were left to the Serbians, the rules would not be enforced.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think that this is about a Serbian minority,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is about an organized crime group, which has maintained control over both border crossings for the last 12 years.\u201d
\nThat argument doesn\u2019t fly with Caslav Sofronijevic. He\u2019s the mayor of Rudare, a small town in northern Kosovo populated by Serbians. In Rudare, several barricades were erected to protest the implementation of Kosovo\u2019s laws, which has lead to high tension between Serbs and Albanians.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sofronijevic thinks the troops never should have come (Foto A.B.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sad, but not surprising<\/strong><\/p>\n

The border crossing at Jarinje was set on fire during recent clashes, and one ethnic Albanian police officer was killed. Sofronijevic says that isn\u2019t surprising.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s sad about the Albanian policeman,\u201d Sofronijevic told Deutsche Welle. \u201cThis person probably had kids and a family, and of course that\u2019s not good. But why would Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci send people like him into such danger?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThaci knows that you can\u2019t send special commandos here,\u201d Sofronijevic continues. \u201cWe have our institutions, our country \u2013 and we call that Serbia. We won\u2019t be forced with violence, special forces, or other means to be integrated into the Kosovar system. That\u2019s like taking away a child\u2019s mother and saying the stepmother is better for it than the real mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Troops from NATO\u2019s Kosovo Force have temporarily taken control of the border crossings and describe the situation as \u2018tense, but calm.\u2019The hope is that things will remain relatively quiet until Serbian and Kosovar officials resume EU mediated talks in mid-September, when a long-term free-trade solution will be on the agenda.<\/p>\n

Author: Ajete Beqiraj, Matt Zuvela<\/p>\n

Editor: Martin Kuebler
\n8 august 2011<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deutsche Welle-English, 8 august 2011.\u00a0 Serb officials in northern Kosovo have agreed to remove roadblocks as per a NATO-brokered deal between Pristina and Belgrade. 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