NATO sends troops to disputed Kosovo border posts

NATO-led peacekeeping troops were on Thursday on their way to two border crossings at the centre of recent clashes with local Serbs in northern Kosovo, witnesses said. A convoy of at least 100 armed transport vehicles and trucks of the Kosovo peacekeeping forces (KFOR) stopped before the first roadblock on the road to Brnjak crossing, a Kosovo Serb citizen on the scene told AFP by telephone. Local Serbs have begun gathering at the barricade, the same source said. The move came after Serb leaders in northern Kosovo and NATO had failed to work out a deal Wednesday over barricades blocking access to the sensitive border crossings. KFOR troops and Kosovo Serbs have been at a tense stand-off over the roadblocks barring access to the Jarinje and Brnjak crossing points between Serbia and its breakaway province of Kosovo. Around 40,000 Serbs live in northern Kosovo, making up the majority in a number of towns. They refuse to recognise the authority of the ethnic Albanian government in Pristina, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Angry local Serbs erected the barricades to prevent access to the border crossings after the Pristina government moved in September to put Kosovo Albanian customs and police officials on the border, fearing this would severely limit their access to Serbia. The security of the Kosovo officials at the disputed border posts is currently guaranteed by KFOR and EULEX, which is mandated to oversee police and customs services.