Kosovo Serbs remove Mitrovica barricade
Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
Publication Date | 18 June 2014 |
Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kosovo Serbs remove Mitrovica barricade, 18 June 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b28325d.html [accessed 26 December 2015] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
June 18, 2014
Serbs in Kosovo's ethnically-divided town of Mitrovica have dismantled a barricade that had been blocking the main bridge for three years.
Local media showed pictures of a bulldozer and ethnic Serbs clearing the bridge overnight on June 18.
Mitrovica is divided between Serbs and Albanians on either side of the Ibar River.
The Serbs erected the barricade in 2011 to block Pristina from asserting its authority over the north, home to Kosovo's largest Serb enclave.
Both Belgrade and Serbs in northern Kosovo reject Kosovo's independence from Serbia.
But a deal brokered by the European Union last year between Serbia and majority-Albanian Kosovo committed the Serbs to join Kosovo institutions and remove all barricades.
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa
Link to original story on RFE/RL website