MERDARE: Kosovo has closed two of its four border crossings with Serbia following a protest by Serbian demonstrators who partially blocked roads and turned away people with Kosovo-issued documents, Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla on Saturday.
The move escalates ongoing tensions between the two countries, which have been strained by disputes over the administration and sovereignty of Kosovo’s northern regions.
Kosovo’s Interior Minister confirmed the closure of the Brnjak and Merdare border crossings, which were shut down overnight from Friday to Saturday. These crossings are located in northern Kosovo, an area with a significant ethnic Serb majority.
The closures come in response to actions by Serbian protesters who had gathered a few kilometers inside Serbia near the border crossings.
The demonstrators were reportedly checking the travel documents of drivers, turning back those with Kosovo-issued papers, and blocking cross-border traffic. The protest is a reaction to Kosovo’s recent actions in the northern part of the region, where Kosovo police raided and closed five administrative offices linked to Serbia’s parallel governance structures.
In a statement on Facebook, Minister Svecla accused “masked extremists” on the Serbian side of the border of selectively obstructing transit through Serbia. He claimed this was happening with the apparent consent or inaction of Serbian authorities.
The Serbian protests, which began on Friday, are driven by opposition to Kosovo’s recent closure of parallel administrative systems set up by ethnic Serbs in the north to rival the official Kosovo institutions.
Serbia, which has not recognized Kosovo’s independence, continues to finance a parallel system for healthcare, education, and social security for ethnic Serbs in the region.
The Serbian demonstrators have demanded that Kosovo police withdraw from the north and that the parallel institutions be restored. They also called for NATO’s peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) to assume control in the area.
Kosovo’s Foreign Ministry has advised travelers to avoid attempting to transit through Serbia. Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla described the Serbian demonstrations as further evidence of attempts by Belgrade to destabilize Kosovo.
