PRISTINA (Dispatches) -- Russia on Sunday called on Kosovo, as well as the U.S. and the EU to stop “provocations” and to respect the rights of Serbs in Kosovo.
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo rose on Sunday ahead of a new Kosovar law making it mandatory for everyone, including Serbs living in Kosovo, to have a Kosovo ID card and plate.
Protests and gunfire rocked the northern areas of Kosovo on Sunday evening after the announcement, prompting NATO forces stationed in the territory to declare in a forceful statement that the alliance would “intervene if stability is jeopardized” in Kosovo.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hit out at the Kosovar government and Western governments, saying the new rules constitute another step toward the expulsion of Serbs from Kosovo.
‘’Such a development of events is more evidence of the failure of the mediation mission of the European Union. This is also an example of what place Serbia has been prepared for in the European Union by offering Belgrade to de facto put up with the lack of rights of its compatriots,’’ she added.
Kosovo, which is predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and declared its independence in 2008. It is recognized by more than 100 countries, but not by Serbia and Russia.
On Monday, the Kosovo government said it had postponed the controversial new order on vehicle license plates.
Later in the day, Serbs in North Kosovo removed barricades that blocked two crossings along the border with Serbia.
Trucks and barriers were cleared from the roads, hours after a string of shootings and air raid sirens in northern Kosovo sent tensions soaring in the disputed territory home to both Serbs and ethnic Albanians.
The area has long been a flashpoint between the two communities following the bitter war in the 1990s that triggered a NATO bombing campaign paving the way for Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti described the new rules as a reciprocal move mimicking regulations that are imposed on Kosovars travelling to Serbia.
Kurti however appeared to back down -- postponing the implementation of the measures for one month -- after meeting with the U.S. ambassador in the capital Pristina late Sunday.
On Monday, Kurti railed against the alleged assailants behind the unrest over the weekend.
“We call on the international forces, the western democratic capitals, the European Union and NATO to condemn the violence and aggression of the criminal gangs in the north of Kosovo, which are clearly organized and financed by Belgrade,” the prime minister told reporters.
The blocking of roads across north Kosovo and reports of shootings targeting police on Sunday stirred fears unrest would spread further in the tense region.