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Trucks block transport hubs in northern Kosovo
Photo: Visar Kryeziu/AP
Kosovo Serbs blocked several roads in Kosovo over the weekend.
Trucks blocked transport hubs in the north of the country, near the border with Serbia.
Hundreds of Kosovo Serbs, some of them apparently armed, are said to have gathered around the barricades and temporarily paralyzed border traffic.
In the region around the city of Mitrovica, which is mostly inhabited by ethnic Serbs, police cars are said to have been shot at and forces from the EU mission Eulex were attacked with a stun grenade.
There have been repeated riots in the region in recent months.
What triggered the recent riots in northern Kosovo?
Dejan Pantic, a former Kosovan police officer of Serb descent, was arrested last week.
The Interior Ministry accuses him of having organized an attack on election workers in Mitrovica on December 6, who were supposed to prepare new elections in the region.
The Kosovo Serbs are demanding his release.
Support comes from Belgrade.
The Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is convinced in a statement that the ex-policeman is innocent.
What is the background to the dispute over the arrest of Dejan Pantic?
Many Kosovo Serbs register their cars in Serbia.
The foreign license plates have been a nuisance to the government in Pristina for a long time.
She wants to introduce a uniform number plate system.
The most recent crisis illustrates Kosovo's biggest problem: the Serbian minority does not recognize the state, which has been independent since 2008.
And so the attempts by the Kosovars to establish a uniform number plate system failed again and again due to the protests of the Serbian minority - and the lack of preparation.
In order to prevent the planned license plate reform, hundreds of police officers, dozens of judges and even members of parliament from the Serbian List party resigned in November.
The introduction of the uniform number plates was suspended after mediation by the EU, but the withdrawal of the Kosovo Serbs left a security vacuum in northern Kosovo.
The EU sent 135 police officers from the EU mission Eulex to the region.
But with hundreds of vacancies, it was little more than a symbol.
In order to at least establish a functioning regional parliament again, the government in Pristina planned new elections for December 18th and 25th.
Due to the renewed unrest, President Vosja Osmani has now postponed this to April 2023.
How are the EU and Serbia reacting to the crisis?
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the attacks on Twitter.
All sides must avoid any "escalation" and ensure calm, he explained.
In addition, Kosovo Serbs should remove the blockades “immediately”.
France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US, meanwhile, welcomed the postponement of new elections to 2023. A joint statement said the postponement was a "constructive decision" that "advances efforts to promote a safer situation in the North". .
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that he wants to apply to the Kosovo Protection Force KFOR to transfer up to 1,000 Serbian soldiers and police officers to Kosovo.
However, he does not expect this to be approved, he said.
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