NATO to remove roadblocks in Kosovo if Serbs fail to do soOctober 16, 2011 - 18:51 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The commander of NATO-led KFOR troops in Kosovo on Saturday, Oct 15 said his troops would remove roadblocks near sensitive border crossings if local Serbs fail to do so voluntarily, a statement said. General Erhard Drews "expects unconditional and permanent access" to the border, NATO-led peacekeepers KFOR said in a statement. If the road blocks were not removed over the weekend "KFOR will do so on Monday, in a peaceful manner, to facilitate the passage of the convoy by engineer vehicles", the statement said. Earlier, Drews met Serb officials to call for the "unconditional removal" of roadblocks near the border. Drews met representatives of four Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo. A trade row spilled over into violence in late July when Pristina ordered its security forces to take over two crossings on the border with Serbia to enforce a newly imposed ban on Serbian goods. The ethnic Albanian Kosovo government said the ban was being ignored by ethnic Serb members of Kosovo's border police. Serbs in northern Kosovo reacted angrily and an ethnic Albanian police officer was killed and four injured in ensuing clashes. NATO troops stepped in when the Jarinje border post was set on fire and bulldozed, apparently by ethnic Serbs. Local Serbs have for weeks been manning 16 barricades blocking the main access roads to the border gates. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008 but Serbia still considers the territory its southern province, AFP reported. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Lemkin Institute petition seeks release of Armenians in Azerbaijan The Lemkin Institute is deeply concerned about the continued illegal detention of political prisoners from Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Armenian Catholicos calls for national unity against threats Karekin II issued a message on Republic Day marking the anniversary of the First Armenian Republic. Pashinyan: Armenia’s desired goal is “on the horizon” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that Armenia is moving forward “without interruption”. Opposition leader, supporters spend night at Sardarapat memorial Police made nearly 300 arrests the day before as Galstanyan and his supporters continued to demonstrate in Yerevan. |