https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/28/world/nato-patrols-kosovo-serbia-border-intl/index.html#:~:text=Pristina%2C%20Kosovo%20NATO%20troops%20stepped%20up%20patrols%20in,plates%20entering%20the%20country%20in%20a%20mounting%20confrontation.
NATO increases patrols near Kosovo-Serbia border blockage
Story by Reuters
Updated 1109 GMT (1909 HKT) September 28, 2021
Roads on the way to the border are guarded by special units of the Kosovo police during continuing protests in Jarinje, Kosovo on September 27.
Pristina, KosovoNATO troops stepped up patrols in Kosovo on Monday near border crossings which have been blocked by local Serbs angered by a ban on cars with Serbian license plates entering the country in a mounting confrontation.
Video footage showed NATO armored vehicles moving close to the barricades made of trucks and other vehicles on the Kosovo-Serbia frontier, as Serbian government jets flew overheard.
Serbs from Kosovo’s north have blocked two main roads since the number-plate ban went into force on Monday last week, exacerbating tensions between the two countries and prompting calls for calm from NATO and the European Union.
Under the ban, all drivers from Serbia must now use temporary printed registration details that are valid for 60 days.
Local Serbs stand beside a roadblock on the route to the northern Kosovo border crossing of Jarinje on September 21.
The Kosovo government says it is in retaliation for measures in force in Serbia against drivers from Kosovo since 2008, when Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence and therefore its right to take official actions such as registering cars.
The confrontation has already boiled over into violence — two interior ministry buildings in northern Kosovo, including a car registration office, were attacked on Saturday, police said.
Serbia has also begun military maneuvers near the border and started flying military jets above the crossing in protest.
Kosovo’s NATO mission — whose 5,000 troops oversee a fragile peace in Kosovo — said on Monday it had „increased the number and duration of routine patrols Kosovo-wide, including in northern Kosovo.“
Serbia lost control over Kosovo in 1999 after NATO bombing.
Kosovo declared independence in 2008, backed by the United States, Britain and most EU member states, but its membership of the United Nations is blocked by Russia, Serbia’s traditional ally.
Belgrade and Pristina committed to an EU-sponsored dialog in 2013 to resolve outstanding issues, but little progress has been made.