Kosovo Closes Two Border Crossings with Serbia - Increased Tensions in North Kosovo

Kosovo has closed two out of four border crossings with Serbia following demonstrations on the Serbian side. The closure was prompted by the actions of 'masked extremists' who were arbitrarily and 'with a fascist behavior' controlling people traveling to Serbia, according to Kosovar Minister of Interior Xhelal Svecla.

Dozens of Serbs had announced the blockade of three border crossings to Kosovo in order to halt traffic. Ultimately, two border crossings were blocked, with the protesters citing the closure of Serbian-controlled parallel authorities in the predominantly Serbian-populated north of Kosovo as their reason.

Kosovo has now closed the Brnjak and Merdare border crossings. The Serbian protesters stated that the blockade would continue until the Kosovar police 'withdraws from the north of Kosovo and the appropriated institutions are returned to the Serbs.' They also demanded that the NATO force in Kosovo (KFOR) take control in the north of Kosovo.

The blockade comes just days after a search operation by Kosovar authorities in five municipal offices in northern Kosovo that are linked to the Serbian government. This operation was the latest in a series of measures against Serbian parallel structures within Kosovo.

The conflict in northern Kosovo between Serbs and Albanians has been ongoing for years and escalates regularly. The majority of Kosovo's 1.8 million inhabitants are ethnic Albanians, with 120,000 Serbs mainly residing in the north of the country.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade does not recognize it.