Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija Province agreed to start removing road barricades, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced to media after meeting their representatives in the town of Raska on Wednesday evening.
Vucic’s meeting with Kosovo Serbs aimed at ending a nearly 3-week-long blockade of main roads in the majority-Serb parts of Kosovo and Metohija, which was triggered by the arrest of a former Kosovo Serb policeman.
“The barricades will be removed, but the distrust prevails. Those who think they can play with the lives of Serbs and their survival… should know that, as we have not allowed it until now … will not allow it in the future either. We need to talk and try to restore trust,” Vucic said.
His meeting with Kosovo Serbs came after the Serbian government stated that it has received strong guarantees from the United States and the European Union that the demands of Kosovo Serbs would be fulfilled.
In north of Kosovo, the situation is calm and there are few local Serbs on guard duty near Rudar. We are waiting for the barricades to be removed pic.twitter.com/ToZa2rFxgH
— Eren Beksaç (@rnbksc) December 29, 2022
Petar Petkovic, director of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo and Metohija, said the conditions for Pristina authorities were to set the arrested protesters free, promise that there would be no further retribution over the roadblocks and that there would be no more illegal raids of Kosovo security forces on the majority-Serb North Kosovo.
The tensions between Kosovo Serbs and the Kosovo authorities have been heated since this summer due to the latter’s announcement that it will ban Serbian IDs, travel documents, and car plates in Kosovo, which resulted in the withdrawal of Serbian officials and public servants from Kosovo institutions.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia rejects this and considers Kosovo its own province.
