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Kosovo: Barricades to stay, but KFOR supplies may pass
Published: 19 October, 2011, 13:25
Edited: 19 October, 2011, 22:55
KFOR soldiers patrol near the village of Cabra on October 18, 2011 as NATO confronted Serbs manning a roadblock in northern Kosovo but agreed to wait 24 hours for a compromise that will allow its KFOR force to supply troops in the sensitive area (AFP Photo / Armend Nimani)
(33.1Mb) embed videoTAGS: Breakaway regions, Conflict, NATO, Kosovo, Anissa Naouai, Maria Finoshina
Hours within the NATO-given deadline, a compromise over the road barricades in northern Kosovo has still not been achieved. Serbs refuse to dismantle the barricades, but will allow supplies to reach some NATO forces, though not all of them.
Talks with KFOR stuck after North Kosovo Serbs said they would only allow passage through blocked roads for KFOR but not for EULEX, RT’s correspondent Maria Finoshina reports.
Earlier NATO had given the Serbs 24 hours to work out a compromise, otherwise the alliance promised to take action. This is the third deadline mentioned by the Alliance, while the first was till Monday, and another till Tuesday, this is due to expire on Thursday.
The barricades were built in protest at Kosovo police and customs officials being placed at two border crossings with Serbia. Since then, the situation has remained at a standstill, with two previous NATO deadlines to dismantle passing with no action from either side.
Given the NATO deadline to find a solution, Wednesday may still bring some changes to the long-running dispute. On the other hand, despite ongoing attempts to find a compromise, neither side appears ready to yield.
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci urged the KFOR peacekeepers stationed in the region to “apply the rule of law” and ensure freedom of movement on "all territories of Kosovo.”
"We want to build a better Kosovo, for all citizens of Kosovo, no matter what nationality they are," AP quoted Thaci as saying. "These actions are co-ordinated between the international community and the government of Kosovo."
“We have much more people than KFOR can provide soldiers,” Oliver Ivanovic, a state secretary at Serbia’s Ministry for Kosovo, told RT. “It’s about 400 people. But in the homes we can bring immediately 2,000 people. That means 2,400-2,500. It’s enough, more than enough to prevent KFOR [from destroying] the barricades.”
Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has criticized NATO for provoking the Serbs in Kosovo to fight an uncompromising battle.
“When NATO suddenly starts dismantling barricades between the Kosovo and Serb sides, when NATO vehicles filled with Kosovo-Albanian policemen start cruising the streets with the clear aim of severing the last remaining communication channels between Serbia and Kosovo Serbs, then it becomes clear that NATO is exceeding its mandate. No one is going to like that,” said Rogozin.
Meanwhile, NATO officials say their top commander in Kosovo is holding talks with all parties in an effort to resolve the situation. No one can say for sure at this moment whether any decision will be taken today, but expectations and hopes are high.
Watch additional report by RT's Maria Finoshina
19.10.2011, 13:19
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What really disturbs me is the fact that the West has and is winning the game. If you look at the N.A.T.O. forces, most come from the West and have occupied the Balkans with out any resistance from Russia or China to up hold international law and standards. The Serbs are alone as always fighting the new world order, the progressives who want to eliminate nationalism and soverignity and create a world government under the United States and its puppetmasters! The deliberate plan to dismantle Yugoslavia was created by the West and is the new form of neo-colonialism and theft of resources from Yugoslavia. The West will never stop until they reach their objective and establish the New World Order thru the carrot and stick approach.
Alex cry me a river Serbs neer commited geocide against Magyars (Hungarians) A 97-year-old Hungarian who once topped the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's (SWC) list of most wanted Nazi criminals has walked free from a Budapest municipal court after being cleared of ordering the execution of Serbs and Jews. That was genocide they were thrown into the frozen Danube and shot or hung.In WW1 Germans and Magyars killed tens of thousands even hundred thousand Serbs in the occupation.Sandor Kepiro, 97 hope he burns in hell.Serbia is always attacked and they always blame the victim for the attack.Just wait til China is #1 we will regain our lands. CCCC
To Vraig Jurisevic: It is not the Serbs, but the Albanian organ thieves, drug traffickers and terrorists, who should join the human race (if they can). You know this very well. And Kosovo is by no means an independent state: it is a puppet military protectorate run by the mafia, a protectorate artificially carved out of a sovereign state and supported only by the military force of NATO troops.