Kosovo Serbs remove barricades, traffic at borders operating smoothly: Police

BELGRADE, Serbia

Kosovo Serbs removed all barricades Friday that were set up amid recent tensions, after being assured by the US and EU that there would be no arrests.

Kosovo police announced that they opened the Jarinje and Brnjak border crossings to Serbia and traffic is operating smoothly.

The border crossings had been closed since Dec. 10.

The removal of barricades began late Wednesday after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Serbs to remove barricades erected in northern Kosovo after being assured by the US and EU that there will be no arrests, according to an official.

The European Union (EU) Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, told local media that the current problem has been solved but tensions remain high and the level of mistrust is higher than ever.

''It is important to not allow the situation to backslide into another crisis, and it is important for the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to start creating an atmosphere conducive to productive discussions on normalization of relations,'' said Lajcak.

He said Serbia and Kosovo have favorable circumstances to solve issues in 2023 but if the opportunity is missed, the dispute can last decades.

"At the moment we have very favorable circumstances: the attention of the top management in the US and the European Union, and we have very good EU-US cooperation, so this is a real opportunity, sometime until December 2023 or early 2024,” he said. “If we return to crisis and conflicts, then we can forget about deadlines.”

Lajcak said earlier that the end of March could be the deadline for reaching an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina on the normalization of relations.

Vucic said big shots will come in January that will force him into an agreement.

''Difficult times await us regarding the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, but we will fight. We have fought so far, and we have won and managed to preserve peace and stability,'' he said Vucic.

Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have escalated since the Dec. 10 detention of former Serbian police officer Dejan Pantic on suspicion of attacking election officials.

Protesting Pantic’s arrest, Kosovo Serbs have been standing guard at barricades they set up at border crossings since Dec. 10.

Two new barricades were set up after Kosovar authorities blocked Serbian Patriarch Porfirije from entering the country ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations.

Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. But Serbia has not recognized the move and sees its former province as part of its territory.

The EU, NATO and the US have called for de-escalation and the removal of barricades in northern Kosovo, while Serbia has requested to deploy its army and police based on a UN resolution.