Calm prevails in Kosovo after the Serbs dismantle their barricades
Calm prevailed Friday in northern Kosovo, after the Serbs dismantled roadblocks they had set up on the roads leading to the border with Serbia and reopened all border crossings, according to the police.
Agence France-Presse correspondents noted that the main roads leading to this border were passable on Friday, after three weeks of demonstrations and tensions.
In northern Kosovo, only one roadblock made of burning trucks still blocks traffic near the city of Mitrovica.
Kosovo police said two secondary border crossings "opened to traffic on Friday afternoon".
On Thursday, the Merdari crossing, the main crossing point with Serbia, reopened.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the removal of the barriers on Wednesday evening, after a call for de-escalation by Washington and the European Union.
In a move apparently intended to ease tensions, a court in Pristina earlier in the day ordered the release and house arrest of former Serbian policeman Dejan Pantic, after his arrest angered the Serb minority.
Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, after a decade of bloody war between Serb forces and Albanian rebels.
But Serbia refuses to recognize the young country.
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