WAR Serbian troops on heightened alert at Kosovo border, Govt offices in Kosovo targeted as tensions soar with Serbia

[jward]

Govt offices in Kosovo targeted as tensions soar with Serbia

Kosovo government officials say a public building was set on fire and another was hit by grenades that didn't explode in what they described as criminal acts related to a protest by ethnic Serbs
​

By ZENEL ZHINIPOTOKU and LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press
September 25, 2021, 12:48 PM
• 3 min read

The Associated Press
Kosovo police officers patrol the bridge over Gazivode lake near the northern Kosovo bor...
PRISTINA, Kosovo -- A public building in Kosovo was set on fire and another was hit by grenades that did not explode in what government officials described Saturday as criminal acts related to ethnic Serbs protesting a symbolic move on license plates.

Serbian media quoted the head of the Zubin Potok fire department, Sasa Bozovic, as saying a fire that broke out overnight at the town's municipal building engulfed two offices.

The Kosovo Interior Ministry said the blaze burned down a vehicle registration office. It was done “by suspects in a criminal act with terrorist elements,” Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla wrote on Facebook.

Ethnic Kosovo Serbs have blocked the Kosovo-Serbia border with trucks since Monday, angry that Kosovo sent in special police to match Serbia in a license plate move that heightens tensions in the Balkans. Kosovo now removes license plates from cars entering the country from Serbia, as Serbia does with Kosovo plates. They both force drivers to buy temporary plates.

Serbia doesn’t recognize its former province of Kosovo as a separate nation and considers their mutual border only as a temporary boundary.

In Zvecan, a town 10 miles away, two hand grenades were thrown into a public office but did not explode, said Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who was convening a meeting Saturday of the country's National Security Council.

Kurti accused Serbia's government of “inciting and supporting” such behavior and “exploiting Kosovo citizens to provoke a serious international conflict.”

Serbia has put its army troops in regions near Kosovo on higher alert. The state RTS television reported Saturday that Serbian military jets flew in the border area twice during the day, prompting cheers from the protesting Serbs.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has described Kosovo’s recent license plate move as a “criminal action,” and he made the withdrawal of all Kosovar special police a condition of European Union-mediated negotiations to resolve the dispute.

But after the grenades and the fire, Kosovo's government did not sound ready Saturday to pull the special police back.

“These criminal acts best show what would have occurred with the border crossings in Jarinje and Brnjak unless special forces were sent there to guarantee public order and security,” Svecla wrote.

The European Union and the United States have urged Kosovo and Serbia to immediately exercise restraint and refrain from unilateral actions.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani called on the world “not to ignore what is clearly (being) seen — a Russian-Serbian tendency to damage the European Union and NATO" by increasing tensions in the Balkans.

“It is time that the international community, and first of all the EU and NATO member countries, see such a danger and prevent the Vucic regime from realizing its goal of creating the ‘Serb world,'” she wrote in Facebook, while in New York at the U.N. General Assembly.

A bloody 1998-1999 crackdown by Serbian troops against Kosovo Albanian separatists ended after NATO intervention, and Kosovo declared independence in 2008. It has been recognized by the U.S. and other Western nations, but not by Serbia and allies Russia and China.

Thousands of NATO-led peacekeepers, including U.S. troops, are still deployed in Kosovo, trying to stave off lingering ethnic tensions between majority Kosovo Albanians and minority Kosovo Serbs.

———

Llazar Semini reported from Tirana, Albania; Jovana Gec from Belgrade, Serbia.

Posted for Fair use

Govt offices in Kosovo targeted as tensions soar with Serbia

Kosovo government officials say a public building was set on fire and another was hit by grenades that didn't explode in what they described as criminal acts related to a protest by ethnic Serbs

abcnews.go.com

 

[jward]

Serbian troops on heightened alert at Kosovo border
Issued on: 26/09/2021 - 18:00Modified: 26/09/2021 - 17:58

Kosovo special police units were deployed to the border with Serbia in the the latest source of tension between Belrade and its breakaway rebublic Armend NIMANI AFP


3 min





Belgrade (AFP)


Serbian troops were on a heightened state of alert on Sunday after the government in Belgrade accused neighbouring Kosovo of "provocations" by sending special police units to the border.

Already tense relations between Serbia and its former breakaway region have grown worse since the ethnic Albanian-led government there on Monday despatched the police units to an area mainly populated by minority ethnic Serbs, who reject the authority of the government in Kosovo's capital Pristina.

The deployment came as hundreds of ethnic Serbs have staged daily protests against a decision to require drivers with Serbian registration plates to put on temporary ones when entering Kosovo -- a "reciprocal measure", according to Pristina.

"No one here wants a conflict and I hope there won't be one," said a 45-year-old protester who identified himself as Ljubo and was camped at the Jarinje border crossing.

"We want Pristina to withdraw its forces and cancel the decision on licence plates."

Hundreds of Serbs in Kosovo have been protesting and blocking traffic with trucks on the roads leading to two border crossings.

"After the provocations by the (special police) units... Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gave the order to heighten the alert for some Serbian army and police units," the defence ministry in Belgrade said in a statement.

Serbian fighter jets could again be seen overflying the border region on Sunday after several sorties on Saturday, an AFP correspondent reported.

- Diplomatic pressure -

The European Union's chief diplomat Josep Borrell urged Serbia and Kosovo to reduce tensions "by immediately withdrawing special police units and dismantling of roadblocks".

"Any further provocations or unilateral and uncoordinated actions are unacceptable," he said in a statement.

Ethnic Serb protesters have blocked roads leading to the border crossing with Serbia to protest Kosovo's new rules on cross-border licence plates Armend NIMANI AFP
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he had spoken by phone to the Serbian president and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

"It's vital both Belgrade and Pristina show restraint and return to dialogue", he tweeted.

NATO troops have been deployed in Kosovo since the 1998-99 Serbian-Kosovar conflict.

Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008 and sees Pristina's decision on the licence plates as implying its status as a sovereign state.

The Serbian head of state, Aleksandar Vucic, deplored the lack of reaction from the international community to "the total occupation for more than a week of northern Kosovo by Pristina's armoured vehicles".

"And everyone is suddenly worried when Serbian helicopters and planes are seen over central Serbia," Vucic said in a statement, adding, however, that Serbia "will always behave responsibly and seriously".

Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Saturday accused Serbia of wanting to "provoke a serious international conflict".

Early on Sunday, Serbian Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic visited troops at two military bases where they are on alert, including one that is just a few kilometres (miles) from the border.

Belgrade designates border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo as "administrative".

Serbian ally Russia also does not recognise Kosovo's independence, but most Western countries do, including the United States.

For its part, NATO member Albania, "concerned by the escalation of the situation", has asked Belgrade "to withdraw the armed forces deployed on the border with Kosovo".

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani cut short a visit to New York for the UN general assembly "because of developments in the north of the country", her cabinet said.

Kosovo's declaration of independence came a decade after a war between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serbian forces that claimed 13,000 lives, mostly ethnic Albanians.

The United States and the European Union have called for a de-escalation of tensions and for the two sides to return to normalisation talks, which the EU has mediated for about a decade.

The Serbian president said the normalisation process can resume only if Kosovo withdraws the special police forces from the north.

posted for fair use

Serbian troops on heightened alert at Kosovo border - France 24

Serbian troops on heightened alert at Kosovo border

www.france24.com

 

[The Snack Artist]

Hey! No fat people in the pics? Oh, that's right. It's Europe. I got to know a U.N. judge while staying in Florida. He was in charge of determining who's house or business was who's after the mooselimes were beaten back. They had burned all the necessary documentation that would prove ownership. So he had issues like, "This is my house!" "No, it's mine!" He had to go case by case to figure and judge who's place it really was.

Here we go again!

 

[jward]

Yup, and Yup. Some of those who watch these things believe this will be the next boiling pot to overflow-

Hey! No fat people in the pics? Oh, that's right. It's Europe. I got to know a U.N. judge while staying in Florida. He was in charge of determining who's house or business was who's after the mooselimes were beaten back. They had burned all the necessary documentation that would prove ownership. So he had issues like, "This is my house!" "No, it's mine!" He had to go case by case to figure and judge who's place it really was.

Here we go again!

 

[jward]

Drums' barely miss a beat, from one crisis to the next. . .

Walid Phares
@WalidPhares

The #Biden Adm need to preempt the military escalation between #Serbia and #Kosovo immediately. The world has enough conflicts brewing since the #AfghanistanDisaster. An immediate return to the status quo ante is vital to keep the peace. The rest can be resolved via talks.

7:59 PM · Sep 26, 2021·Twitter Web App

 

[jward]

Serbia’s president blasts world’s ‘thunderous silence’ over ‘occupation’ of northern Kosovo as tensions in breakaway region soar ​

26 Sep, 2021 21:57
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Kosovo police officers near a border crossing in Jarinje, September 21, 2021. © Marjan Vucetic / AP

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says foreign partners are turning a blind eye to a security crackdown in Serb-majority areas of Kosovo, where the breakaway region’s forces have brought essential cross-border traffic to a halt.
“The complete occupation of northern Kosovo and Metohija with armored vehicles by Pristina has been going on for the past seven days, and everyone in the international community stays thunderously silent,” Vucic said on Sunday, referring to the region by its Serbian name.
The statement refers to the ongoing crisis in northern Kosovo, involving several crossings into inner Serbia, which have been effectively blocked by the partially recognized authorities of Kosovo after the government in Pristina banned cars with Serbian license plates from entering the region.

Accompanied by a ramped-up security presence, Kosovo police proceeded to seize license plates from the locals, saying they had to be replaced by Republic of Kosovo plates. They banned drivers with Serbian plates from entering Kosovo unless they paid a tax and acquired the newly mandated plates before crossing the border, creating kilometers-long traffic jams.
The situation has disrupted food and medication deliveries to local communities, which, despite now living in the breakaway province, are dependent on supplies from inner Serbia. Attempts by ethnic Serbs to protest at border crossings against what they view as Pristina’s occupation and a crackdown on their local autonomy, have been quelled by tear-gas-firing Kosovo police. On Friday, Reuters cited the police as having said that two government offices were attacked in northern Kosovo, and that disgruntled Serbian residents were blocking the roads.

Serbia responded to the situation by deploying tanks and fighter jets right next door, with footage of the armored vehicles rolling in triggering calls for “restraint” from the US and their allies.
Vucic remarked on Sunday that everyone was “suddenly worried” when they saw “Serbian helicopters and planes over the territory of central Serbia because, I guess, they shouldn’t take off until [Kosovo Prime Minister Albin] Kurti or someone from the international community approves.”

Despite cozying up to the US for years, Vucic has had no public support from Washington, and attempts to resolve the situation via NATO have proven similarly fruitless. Speaking by phone to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Vucic stressed that Serbia remained committed to the 2013 EU-brokered agreement that laid the groundwork for the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Stoltenberg only urged Vucic and Kurti to take steps towards de-escalation and dialogue.

Russia, which does not recognize Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, said the Pristina authorities were to blame for the escalation of tensions. The Russian ambassador to Belgrade toured the positions of the Serbian military with the country’s defense minister on Sunday, the Russian embassy saying the Serbs had been acting “responsibly” in the circumstances.
Meanwhile, the EU foreign policy head, Josep Borrell, issued a statement urging both the Serbian and Kosovo authorities “to unconditionally de-escalate the situation on the ground by immediately withdrawing special police units and dismantling roadblocks,” and said they must resolve the crisis via “the EU-facilitated dialogue.”

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, just over a decade after NATO’s ‘humanitarian intervention’ in the Yugoslav conflict, which saw a bloody guerilla campaign, led by ethnic Albanians, met with a military crackdown by then-President Slobodan Milosevic. The US and its allies sided with the guerilla fighters, bombing former Yugoslavia for three months, destroying its military, as well as civilian infrastructure, and NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force was deployed in Kosovo. An ethnic Albanian rule was eventually established in the province, except for several Serb-majority regions that maintained de-facto autonomy. Despite years of talks, the signing of the 2013 Brussels Agreement, and various suggestions of mutual exchange of territories, the situation remains unresolved, and Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Serbia’s president blasts world’s ‘thunderous silence’ over ‘occupation’ of northern Kosovo as tensions in breakaway region soar

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says foreign partners are turning a blind eye to a security crackdown in Serb-majority areas of Kosovo, where the breakaway region’s forces have brought essential cross-border traffic to a halt.

www.rt.com

 

[SmithJ]

Jeez, again so soon……

 

[jward]

Yup. So predictable you can set yer watch by it eh.

 

[jward]

Global: MilitaryInfo
@Global_Mil_Info

Serbia raises readiness due to rising tensions with Kosovo.

8:19 AM · Sep 27, 2021·Twitter for Android

 

[Melodi]

The sad part is, I'm sorry, but there are no "good guys" in this long-running situation that goes back at least several hundred years.

I'm sure you have good and honorable people on both "sides" but you also have extensive lists of butchery, war crimes, and absolutely unimaginably horrific behavior on both "sides" as well.

I had hoped that eventually just splitting the country up would work, but obviously, that isn't happening. Though the fact that Kosovo was never really recognized didn't help much.

In reality, you have two groups of people whose hatred is almost beyond imagining (again in general, individuals can vary) and since there is absolutely no trust at all, it is pretty much impossible to come to or enforce agreements.

I don't see how the USA can really do anything, last time they dropped a few bombs and killed a few people, but things didn't really stop until people were tired and horrified enough to take a "break."

The last thing the US needs right now is to try to get involved in this mess.

 

[danielboon]

NATO increases patrols near Kosovo-Serbia border blockage
Reuters

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• 
  

2 minute read
PRISTINA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - NATO 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 licence plates entering the country in a mounting confrontation.

NATO increases patrols near Kosovo-Serbia border blockage

NATO 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 licence plates entering the country in a mounting confrontation.

www.reuters.com

 

[danielboon]

Albania’s President comes to Kosovo in the midst of escalation with Serbia
By Alice Taylor | EURACTIV.com
3:36 (updated: 9:01)

Albin Kurti (L), Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, and Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, inspect the Kosovo's guard of honor in Pristina, Kosovo, 27 September 2021. Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama is on a one-day official visit in Kosovo. [EPA-EFE/VALDRIN XHEMAJ]
Languages: Français
Comments Print
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has arrived in Kosovo on Monday (27 September) to meet with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and opposition party leaders, against the background of a dangerous escalation with Serbia over car plates.
Kosovo’s political parties have rallied together as Serbian troops gather along the border, following an alleged attack on two Kosovo interior ministry offices on Saturday.
Two buildings belonging to the Ministry of the Interior were attacked with hand grenades and set on fire, according to police.
Hand grenades were allegedly thrown at the civil registration office in Zvecan but did not detonate. Meanwhile, in Zubin Potok, the car registration office was set on fire. Despite material damage, there were no casualties reported.
The incidents came following days of tensions after the Kosovo government, led by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, announced that all Serbian vehicles crossing the border must use temporary Kosovo license plates.
Drivers from Kosovo have been required to display temporary Serbian plates since 2008 when it declared independence from Serbia. Kurti claims this is reciprocity, and he will revoke the measure if Serbia does the same.
Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence and sees Pristina’s decision on the licence plates as implying its status as a sovereign state.
Following the announcement, Serbs from the north of Kosovo blocked two main roads near the border with Serbia. These blockades have remained in place for over seven days and have been joined by Serbian military aircraft infringing on Kosovo’s air space, and tanks.
“After the provocations by the (special police) units… Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gave the order to heighten the alert for some Serbian army and police units,” the defence ministry in Belgrade said in a statement.
Kosovo’s political parties align
In a rare sign of unity, the Democratic Party of Kosovo has pledged support for the Kurti Vetevendosje government. Leader Memli Krasniqi, along with leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj, condemned the actions of Serbia.
Krasniqi wrote on Facebook that preserving the state of Kosovo “is a moral responsibility, not only political”, adding that Kosovo will not give in to threats of intimidation.
“Legitimate decisions of Kosovo institutions are sovereign decisions of the state of Kosovo, which cannot be blocked,” he said.
Former Prime Minister Haradinaj spoke in support of the actions undertaken by the Kosovo police along the border. He called Belgrade’s actions “provocations” and asked the EU to intervene.
On Saturday night, Kurti convened the National Security Council, and President Vjosa Osmani announced she would cut short her trip to the US and return to Kosovo in light of the ongoing situation.
The European Union’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell urged Serbia and Kosovo to reduce tensions “by immediately withdrawing special police units and dismantling of roadblocks”.

Northern Kosovo situation sparks international response
EU top diplomat Josep Borrell told both Serbia and Kosovo on Sunday that any new provocations or unilateral and uncoordinated actions “are unacceptable” and said he was continuing to closely follow developments in northern Kosovo. Meanwhile, US Deputy Assistant Secretary …


“Any further provocations or unilateral and uncoordinated actions are unacceptable,” he said in a statement.
European Council President Charles Michel called for both sides to “step back and de-escalate” on Saturday. He asked for the withdrawal of Special Police Units and barricades in favour of continuing dialogue.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he had spoken by phone to the Serbian president and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
“It’s vital both Belgrade and Pristina show restraint and return to dialogue”, he tweeted.
NATO troops have been deployed in Kosovo since the 1998-99 Serbian-Kosovar conflict.
Albania has a big influence in Kosovo, but Rama and Kurti have a somewhat fractious relationship, mainly due to the latter’s refusal to join the Open Balkans Initiative, launched by Albanian, Serbian and Macedonian leaders. It aims to establish a common economic area in the Western Balkans, but Kurti maintains it does not recognise Kosovo’s sovereignty and will undermine potential EU integration.
The Serbian president said the normalisation process can resume only if Kosovo withdraws the special police forces from the north of Kosovo, mainly populated by minority ethnic Serbs, who reject the authority of the government in Pristina.

Albania's prime minister comes to Kosovo in the midst of escalation with Serbia

Kosovo’s political parties have rallied together as Serbian troops gather along the border, following an alleged attack on two Kosovo interior ministry offices on Saturday 25 September.

www.euractiv.com

 

[danielboon]

Serbia threatens Kosovo with war
President Vucic: "If the pogrom continues on our people, Serbia will react"

Foto: LAURA HASANI/REUTERS
Kosovar special forces guard a border crossing that is being blocked by Serbian civilians Photo: LAURA HASANI / REUTERS

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items by: JULIAN RÖPCKEpublished on09/27/2021 - 2:19 pm
Is a new war looming in the Balkans?
The dispute over license plates between Serbia and Kosovo could develop into a new armed conflict between Russia's allies in Belgrade and the NATO-protected government in Pristina within hours.
On Sunday evening, Serbia put parts of its military on heightened alert.
The reason for the tension: Since mid-September, Serbian visitors to the Kosovo border have had to exchange their license plates for temporary Kosovar license plates in order to get to Kosovo.

The government in Pristina reacted with the regulation to the fact that Serbia for its part does not recognize the license plates introduced by Kosovo after the declaration of independence in 2008.

https://translate.google.com/transl... an die Nato - Serbien droht Kosovo mit Krieg

 

[Wyominglarry]

I have two friends who both served in the US Army in the NATO force in the Balkans. They said if NATO leaves the Balkans will go to war in a day after the last NATO troop leaves. They both hated their tours.

 

[Old Gringo]

The sad part is, I'm sorry, but there are no "good guys" in this long-running situation that goes back at least several hundred years.

I'm sure you have good and honorable people on both "sides" but you also have extensive lists of butchery, war crimes, and absolutely unimaginably horrific behavior on both "sides" as well.

I had hoped that eventually just splitting the country up would work, but obviously, that isn't happening. Though the fact that Kosovo was never really recognized didn't help much.

In reality, you have two groups of people whose hatred is almost beyond imagining (again in general, individuals can vary) and since there is absolutely no trust at all, it is pretty much impossible to come to or enforce agreements.

I don't see how the USA can really do anything, last time they dropped a few bombs and killed a few people, but things didn't really stop until people were tired and horrified enough to take a "break."

The last thing the US needs right now is to try to get involved in this mess.

"The last thing the US needs right now is to try to get involved in this mess."

Yes

 

[Wildweasel]

Sounds like somebody's cueing up the long play version of Remove Kabob. That part of the world still hasn't recovered from the social damage done in the Muslim invasion culminating in the siege of Vienna in 1683.

The hatred between the Muslims in Kosovo and the Christians in Serbia boils over every few decades, like in 1914, 1940 and 1992. Guess we're due for another round, hopefully without a disastrous chain of events like those that followed the shooting of Archduke Ferdinand.

 

[Seeker22]

The United States is getting this polarized. Scary to think that these articles could be our future, too.

 

[jward]

Liveuamap
@Liveuamap

As if Kosovo tensions weren't enough "We will propose that the army of the Republika Srpska be formed in a few months through the demolition of the law on the army," announced the Serbian member of the BiH presidency, Milorad Dodik.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1442833088002891781

View: https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1442833088002891781?s=20

 

[danielboon]

Tensions High As Kosovo, Serbia Continue Border Standoff
September 29, 2021 10:37 GMT

• By RFE/RL

Two crossings on Kosovo's border with Serbia have been blocked by local Serbs since Kosovar authorities on September 20 required all drivers from Serbia entering Kosovo to use temporary printed registration details that are valid for 60 days.

The Kosovar government says it is in retaliation for measures in force in Serbia against drivers from Kosovo since 2008, when Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Belgrade does not recognize Kosovo's independence and therefore its right to take official actions such as registering cars.

Meanwhile, the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo has stepped up patrols on the border, while Serbia has held military maneuvers near the border and flown military jets above the crossings in protest.

1Kosovar special police units patrol near the border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia in Jarinje on September 28.

2Ethnic Serbs walk through barricades near the Jarinje crossing on September 28.

On September 27, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti repeated an offer for both countries to lift the rule of temporary license plates. He also said he was open to talks in Brussels, but Belgrade was refusing to hold them.

3NATO soldiers patrol near Jarinje on September 28, as the international community, led by the European Union, called for talks to ease tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.

NATO has led the KFOR peacekeeping force since 1999, with around 4,000 troops from 28 countries, after a 78-day bombing campaign by the military alliance ended a war that left more than 10,000 dead.

4Serbian women walk past Kosovar police after crossing the border on foot in Jarinje on September 28.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has warned NATO that Serbia will intervene in Kosovo if Serbs there come under serious threat from the ethnic Albanian majority.

5Polish soldiers from KFOR pass through barricades as they patrol near Jarinje on September 28.

KFOR is supported by the United Nations, the European Union, and other international actors. Its aim is to stave off lingering ethnic tensions between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

6Kosovar police secure the area as ethnic Serbs gathered on barricades near Jarinje on September 28.

Vucic has described Kosovo's recent license-plate move as a "criminal action," and he made the withdrawal of all Kosovar special police a condition of EU-mediated negotiations to resolve the dispute.

7EU police officers patrol near the border at Jarinje on September 28.

European Commission spokeswoman Diana Spinant on September 27 urged both sides to "sit down together and to put an end to the verbal escalation in the region."

8Ethnic Serbs man the barricades near Jarinje on September 28.

Kosovo's declaration of independence is 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.

9Kosovar Serbs sit by a bonfire near the border crossing at Jarinje on September 28.

10An ethnic Serb walks past Kosovar police securing the area near Jarinje on September 28.

The EU, NATO, and the United States have all urged Kosovo and Serbia to immediately exercise restraint and refrain from unilateral actions.

11

12Serbian Army soldiers stand guard by their armored vehicle in the village of Rudnica, near the southern Serbian town of Raska, on September 27.

On September 26, Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic visited troops at two military bases near the Kosovo border, accompanied by Russia's ambassador to Serbia.

13

14A man passes through trucks placed by local Serbs to block the road in Jarinje on September 26.

15A picture of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is seen close to a border crossing at Jarinje.

The confrontation has already boiled over into violence, with a vehicle-registration office and another Interior Ministry building in northern Kosovo being attacked on September 25, according to police.

16A NATO helicopter flies over a Serbian flag in Jarinje.

17A Kosovar police officer stands next to trucks blocking the road in Jarinje.

18Serbian warplanes are seen flying over the border with Kosovo at Jarinje on September 26.

Tensions High As Kosovo, Serbia Continue Border Standoff

Two crossings on Kosovo's border with Serbia have been blocked by local Serbs since Kosovar authorities on September 20 required all drivers from Serbia entering Kosovo to use temporary printed registration details that are valid for 60 days.

www.rferl.org