European Forum

Northern Kosovo: violence halted, talks stopped

On 28 September EU-mediated talks between Serbia and Kosovo have been called off amid heightened tension in northern Kosovo. The Serbian delegation was "not ready to proceed" with talks in Brussels, EU diplomat Robert Cooper said. Talks had been postponed from 27 September after 16 ethnic Serbs and four NATO peacekeepers were hurt in clashes in an ongoing dispute over border crossings. NATO said troops had used tear gas and rubber bullets after pipe bombs were fired at positions in northern Kosovo. However, Serbia called NATO's actions "absolutely unacceptable" and a hospital boss said six of the injured civilians had been shot with live rounds. In his statement after the cancellation of talks, Mr Cooper said the border violence was "not part of the dialogue nor the subject of any separate negotiations with Serbia"."The dialogue will continue when the Serbian side is ready to re-engage," he added.

On 28 September spokesperson for NATO’s peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, Colonel Kai Gudenogh, described the situation in northern Kosovo “calm” again, although local Serbs are continuing to guard make-shift barricades erected to prevent traffic flowing through one border point in the Jarinje area. This is still the situation now. We have no other problems in the north. It is calm and we hope it stays this way,” Gudenogh said.

Last night, KFOR, the EU-rule-of-law mission EULEX and the Kosovo government all issued statements condemning the violence that had occurred. KFOR spokesman Ralph Adametz provided details of the type of unrest which had taken place and confirmed that one of its soldiers had fired a rubber bullet at a civilian. “During the incident an attempt was made to seize the soldier's weapon and, after a verbal warning, a KFOR soldier fired a shot; injuring the civilian attempting to steal the weapon...The situation then deteriorated and a number of pipe bombs were thrown at KFOR personnel, causing minor injuries. There have also been confirmed reports of shots fired at KFOR personnel in the vicinity,” Adametz said.

Northern Kosovo, which borders Serbia, has long been prone to bursts of violence. Its population, which is almost entirely comprised of Serbs, does not recognise Kosovo's declaration of independence nor the ethnic Albanian-led government in Pristina. While officially a part of Kosovo, it is seen by some as being under de facto control of so-called parallel institutions which are funded by Serbia. These parallel institutions include decision-making bodies such as town councils and mayors.

From its declaration of independence in 2008 until the middle of July this year, northern Kosovo's two border points had been manned only by the international rule-of-law mission, EULEX. However, on 25 July the Kosovo government deployed a number of its special police to these two checkpoints to enforce a recent trade ban on goods entering the country from Serbia. The presence of Kosovo police officers in northern Kosovo caused friction and a short-term burst of violence erupted. One police officer was killed, one checkpoint was burned down and a significant diplomatic effort ensued with more peacekeeping troops being deployed to the area to restore peace. An agreement was reached on the subject of trade between Serbia and Kosovo in August allowing for the free flow of exports in both directions through the checkpoints in September. This agreement was the first of its kind since Kosovo declared independence in 2008; previously, Serbia had banned all exports entering the country from Kosovo. Under the agreement, the Kosovo authorities would have overall authority over the crossings but would be under the supervision of EULEX. While agreed by the two authorities, local Serbs on the ground in northern Kosovo have broadly opposed both the customs agreement and, still more, the deployment of Kosovo customs officials to border crossings with Serbia.

Sources: BBC, Balkaninsight, Photo: Flickr CharlesFred