Border tension growing

For the Serbian daily Danas, it’s “escalation". On 20 October the forces of NATO and EULEX, the EU Rule of Law Mission, began to take down the barricades put up by the Serbs in northern Kosovo along the Serbian frontier. Twenty-two Serbs and eight NATO soldiers were wounded in the clashes that accompanied this intervention. The Serb population of the area, which has not recognised the independence of the Serbian province, refuses to accept the manning of the border crossing by Kosovo officials. Although Brussels has recently recommended to the EU27 that Serbia be given the status of candidate country for EU membership, the issue of recognition of Kosovo by Belgrade remains an obstacle to the opening of negotiations.