Kosovo closes two border crossings with Serbia after activists stage blockade
Northern Kosovo, with a predominantly ethnic Serb population, has long been a flashpoint of tensions between Pristina and Belgrade and the border blockade comes on the same day an EU envoy said both sides should work to normalise relations if they hope to join the bloc.
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00:00Authorities in Kosovo have closed two border crossings with Serbia after protesters on
00:07the Serbian side blocked the road and prevented motorists with Kosovo documents from passing
00:12through.
00:14Protesters started blockading the border crossing late on Friday.
00:17They said that was in protest against the closure of parallel administrations that ethnic
00:22Serbs in northern Kosovo had set up.
00:25Some demonstrators also demanded that the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo assume
00:30control over the north.
00:34Northern Kosovo, with its predominantly ethnic Serb population, has long been a flashpoint
00:38for tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.
00:41Earlier this year, Kosovo made the euro the only legal currency in the country, effectively
00:46outlawing use of the Serbian dinar.
00:49And the border blockade began just days after police in northern Kosovo closed five administration
00:54offices linked to the Belgrade government.
00:57Serbia doesn't recognize Kosovo's independence proclaimed in 2008.