Thousands of Serbs chanting "Kosovo is Serbia" marched to a bridge dividing them from ethnic Albanians while others torched UN border checkpoints and cars to protest Kosovo's declaration of independence.
NATO troops later closed down the roads leading to the checkpoints on Tuesday, cutting off the only link between northern Kosovo and Serbia, UN spokesman Besim Hoti said.
The move appeared to be because of fears that the reduction of UN control of the border could allow Serbian militants to return to fight in Kosovo, a land Serb nationalists consider the cradle of their state and religion.
Smoke billowed from two posts separating Kosovo from Serbia and flames engulfed several UN vehicles set ablaze in protest against Kosovo's weekend proclamation of independence and because of anger over international recognition of the new nation.
For two days, Kosovo's Serbs have shown their determination to shun the declaration by destroying UN and NATO property, setting off small bombs and staging noisy rallies through the Serb stronghold of Kosovska Mitrovica.
The attacks on UN border crossings showed the protesters' willingness to use violence to hold on to Kosovo.
In Belgrade, the Serbian government minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, hailed the attacks, saying "today's action is in accordance with the general [Serbian] government policies."
"Belgrade has the intention to take over the customs in northern Kosovo," Samardzic told private B92 television. "The customs points were intended to become part of [Kosovo's] state border and we are not going to let that happen."
The divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica in Kosovo's north has been tense since the ethnic Albanian leadership in Pristina unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on Sunday -- widely expected after internationally mediated talks on the province's future fell apart last year.
Overnight, three loud explosions shook the town; one damaged several cars near a UN building. Two hand grenades hit deserted homes that belonged to ethnic Albanians who fled this Serb stronghold after the 1999 war.
A UN vehicle was also torched overnight in a nearby village.
No injuries were reported, and Kosovo Serb authorities said they were investigating the bombings.
In Jarnije and Banja, 30km north of Kosovska Mitrovica, protesters used plastic explosives and bulldozers to wreck the two border checkpoint posts.
Protesters tipped over metal sheds that housed Kosovo's customs service and sent them sliding down a hill and into a river. They vandalized and set fire to passport control booths.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Kosovo on Tuesday, a day after a majority of EU nations said they would formally launch diplomatic ties with the continent's newest country.
Solana met with Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, who described the protests in Kosovska Mitrovica as "isolated incidents" that would not spoil Kosovo's independence festivities.
"NATO is there and everything is under control," Thaci said after meeting with Solana.
China will send a fresh deployment of peacekeeping police to Kosovo, state media said yesterday.
The contingent, 15 men and three women, will be sent to Kosovo early next month after three weeks of intense training, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the public security ministry.
They were picked among 70,000 police officers on the basis of their English, shooting and driving skills, and will be carrying out criminal investigations, traffic policing and VIP protection in Kosovo, the agency said.
China has been involved in the UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo since 2004 and the latest deployment will be the nation's fifth contingent of forces.
They will replace a contingent of Chinese police who have been there since October 2006.
Also See: EDITORIAL: One rule for Kosovo, one for Taiwan
Also See: Europe's newest country will face economic challenges
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS