The NATO mission in Kosovo (KFOR) said in a press release published on Sunday, "
ready to intervene if stability is threatened
" in northern Kosovo, where tensions have been observed in recent hours.
“
Our mission is fully focused on the day-to-day implementation of its UN mandate to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all inhabitants of Kosovo
,” the document added, noting being of a "
tense general security situation
" in the municipalities of the north of the country.
According to Reuters, Serbs reportedly blocked roads and fired shots at police in protest against a government move to replace Serbian vehicle license plates with Kosovo ones within two months.
Serb protesters reportedly parked trucks full of gravel and other heavy machinery on the roads leading to two border crossing points, Jarinje and Bernjak, in an area where Serbs are the majority.
Faced with these tensions, Kosovo police said on Sunday they had closed two northern border crossings.
"
We call on all citizens to use other border crossings
," the police said on their Facebook page.
According to the police, shots were fired
in the direction of the police units but fortunately no one was injured
".
Air raid sirens sounded for more than three hours in the small town of North Mitrovica, inhabited mainly by Serbs.
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Similar tensions in 2021
Fourteen years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, some 50,000 Serbs living in the north use license plates and documents issued by Serbian authorities, who refuse to recognize institutions under the capital, Pristina.
Kosovo has been recognized as an independent state by more than 100 countries, but not by Serbia or Russia.
“
NATO continues to fully support the normalization process between Pristina and Belgrade through the EU-facilitated dialogue and calls on all parties to pursue negotiations
,” the KFOR mission said in its statement.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government has said it will give Serbs a 60-day transition period from August 1 to get Kosovo license plates, a year after it backed out of imposing them due to similar events.
The government has also decided that from August 1, all citizens of Serbia visiting Kosovo should obtain an additional document at the border to grant them permission to enter.
A similar rule is applied by Belgrade authorities to Kosovars visiting Serbia.
A year ago, after local Serbs blocked the same roads because of license plates, the Kosovo government deployed special police forces and Belgrade flew fighter jets near the border.
Tensions between the two countries are now at their highest level in years and Kosovo's fragile peace is maintained by a NATO mission which has 3,770 soldiers on the ground.
Italian blue helmets were visible on Sunday in Mitrovica and its surroundings.
The two countries engaged in a European Union-sponsored dialogue in 2013 to try to resolve outstanding issues, but little progress has been made.