After calls from Washington and the European Union to stop the escalation

Kosovo Serbs begin to dismantle their border checkpoints

A resident walks past trucks blocking the road in the northern part of Mitrovica, Kosovo.

EPA

Yesterday, Kosovo Serbs began dismantling the barriers they had erected on the border between Serbia and Kosovo, according to footage broadcast by Serbian state television.

Lines of cars and trucks formed on the Serbian side of the main border crossing, where roadblocks were erected.

Kosovo police confirmed the official reopening of the crossing.

And Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that the Kosovo Serbs, who have been blocking roads for nearly three weeks, will remove the barriers they have set up, after calls for a de-escalation made by Washington and Brussels.

Late Wednesday, Serbian President Vucic urged Kosovo Serb representatives to reconsider removing the barriers.

And the Kosovo police announced Wednesday the closure of the largest border crossing with Serbia, after Serb protesters set up more roadblocks in one of the worst crises in the region in years.

The latest unrest erupted on December 10, when Serbs erected roadblocks to protest the arrest of a former policeman suspected of involvement in attacks against Kosovar Albanian police officers, paralyzing traffic at two border crossings.

Last Wednesday, the United States and the European Union called for "de-escalation of tension" in northern Kosovo.

"We call on everyone to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate action to de-escalate without conditions," a US State Department spokesperson and a spokeswoman for the European Union said in a joint statement.

However, the German government considered that the reinforcement of the Serbian military presence on the border with Serbia involves a "very bad signal."

"National rhetoric, as we have heard recently, is unacceptable," said German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christopher Burger.

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