Officials from Kosovo and Serbia came to terms on August 5th about the violence that occurred at the end of July on the northern Kosovo border, including the death of a Kosovo policeman and the firebombing of a customs post.
A country with only a population of 1.7 million, Kosovo has had a history of tensions with its northern neighbor, Serbia, which it broke free from, in 2008, with the aid of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Kosovo is recognized as an independent country by the United States and all but five EU countries, but not by Serbia and Russia.
President Boris Tadic of Serbia and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci of Kosovo were encouraged to solve this crisis, which has further revealed the tensions between the ethnic Serbs and Albanians of Kosovo.
The temporary deal states that the ban on Serbian imports will continue but police forces and customs officers will no longer be sent from Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, to the northern border posts.
NATO will be allowed to guard two border posts and overview the civilians coming in and out of Kosovo and check the humanitarian aid cargo.
NATO has had bad relations with Serbia since its interferences during the Kosovo War. In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, several times.
Northern Kosovo is composed of 60,000 ethnic Serbs, the majority of which still believe that Kosovo is a part of Serbia. The ethnic Serbs living in the northern borders depend on Serbia’s imports for economical and financial support.
The northern borders had been managed before by ethnic Serbs. While trying to enforce a new ban on imports from Serbia, Kosovo’s attempts to take control of border posts erupted into violence last week.
The most recent case of violence was the firebombing of a customs post, done by about 200 ethnic Serbs, on July 27th. According to the Associated Press, no one was hurt but the incident has renewed fears about the rising ethnic tensions.
Only hours before the firebombing, Kosovo’s police force had withdrawn after trying to take control of a border post. They had effectively seized a post on Monday night, but the police did not succeed the second time. A Kosovo police officer was killed in the police action.
“Hooligans who cause violence are not defending Serbia or the Serbian citizens,” Tadic said in a statement.
Belgrade resident Vid Rajin, 24, showed his distaste of the violence shown by radical Serbs. “I find [the skirmishes] unfortunate, messy, and pointless…in terms of not going anywhere to bring the two peoples together.”
