Kosovo Says Border Deal Unacceptable
August 4, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
PRISTINA, Kosovo, Aug. 4 (UPI) — The government in Kosovo announced it didn’t back a NATO plan to have its forces in control of border checkpoints through the middle of September.
Erhard Buehler, the commander of NATO’s Kosovo police force, or KFOR, reached a preliminary agreement that would give KFOR control over checkpoints between Kosovo and Serbia until mid-September.
Serbian officials had said negotiations on the NATO proposal were moving in the right direction, though the government in Kosovo rejected the deal, the Southeast European Times reports.
The Pristina government was quoted as saying in a statement that Kosovo was an autonomous state capable of making its own decision, describing the KFOR plans as “unacceptable.”
Relations between both sides have been tense since before Kosovo declared unilateral independence from Serbia in 2008.
A checkpoint along the border was demolished last week. KFOR closed two checkpoints in the area in response, noting its troops were fired on by unknown people.
Both sides were urged to exercise restraint after Kosovo sent a police unit to the northern border to enforce a trade embargo on Serbia.
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