Roads into Kosovo are blocked by hundreds of Serbs in protest of their national registration plates being covered with temporary signs to be allowed into Kosovo.
Heavily armed riot police from Kosovo rushed to the border on Monday and used tear gas against the protesters, which further raised tensions, reports the news agency AP.
- This is a democratic protest by the inhabitants of this area, Serbs from northern Kosovo.
They are just trying to defend their human rights to free movement, which is the basis of the EU's values, says Igor Simic, a Kosovo Serb government official.
The same coin from the Serbian side
Serbian police have in turn removed registration plates on Kosovo cars that enter Serbia for several years, writes AP.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti already had a meeting on Tuesday with the ambassadors of the EU and other partner countries.
There he said that either Kosovo and Serbia are either right or wrong when it comes to temporary number plates.
Therefore, both countries should either keep the number plates in both countries or remove them, says Kurti.
He maintains that the decision to remove Serbian license plates is not discriminatory against Serbs.
Historical unrest
Serbia does not recognize the border with Kosovo, which became independent in 2008, as anything other than administrative and temporary.
Thousands of people died in 1998-1999 when Serbian troops murdered Kosovo-Albanian separatists.
Both the EU and the US call on Kosovo and Serbia to immediately reduce tensions and refrain from unilateral action by either country.