KFOR blocks one checkpoint, Serbs another

Source: B92, Beta

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- NATO troops in Kosovo, KFOR, tonight used barbed wire to shut down the Jarinje administrative line checkpoint between Kosovo and central Serbia.

German members of KFOR are seen at Jarinje (Tanjug)

As a consequence of this, the traffic at the checkpoint has come to a complete halt.

A little after 19:00 CET,, local Serbs in northern Kosovo used trucks to block the second administrative crossing, Brnjak.

The trucks are placed on both sides of the administrative line.

Serbs also blocked access to Jarinje with one truck.

At the same time, the main bridge in the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica remains blocked with large quantities of gravel the Serbs placed on the road.

Serbs also completely blocked the Kosovska Mitrovica-Ribarić road in several places in the Zubin Potok municipality. Near Zupče they created a barricade out of tree trunks, stopping the traffic in both directions.

A large number of cars are seen parked nearby, while Serbs from the Ibarski Kolašin region also joined the local residents at the barricades.

Here, they also put up a large video-beam, so they can watch the European basketball championships quarterfinal match played this evening between Serbia and Russia.

The situation in Zubin Potok is described as peaceful but tense.

All this comes as tensions are running high after the Kosovo Albanian authorities in Priština announced they would on Friday install their police and customs at the two checkpoints in the north.

Local Serbs reject the authority of the government in Priština, as well as the unilateral declaration of independence made by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in early 2008.