Tension after Kosovo border clash
- 13 years ago
A tense calm in Kosovo at a contested border crossing with Serbia.
Clashes erupted overnight when NATO troops fired teargas at hundreds of Serbian protesters blocking the crossing.
The demonstrators - who do not recognise Kosovo's 2008 independence from Serbia - sang and chanted in front of the German and Austrian troops.
But scuffles once again broke out.
A Serbian government spokesman appealed for calm and urged all parties to resolve the dispute through diplomacy.
(SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) SERBIAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON, MILIVOJE MIHAJLOVIC:
"The Serbian government is in permanent contact with NATO, the European Union and the United Nations and we are trying to overcome this problem through diplomatic means. The goal is to bring the whole issue back to the negotiating table and to start resolving it one issue at a time."
There have been previous clashes along this border.
NATO troops have patrolled Kosovo since Serbian forces withdrew in 1999 and a U.N. and then E.U. administration took over.
More than 80 countries including the United States and most of the EU have recognised Kosovo as a sovereign country.
Simon Hanna, Reuters.
Clashes erupted overnight when NATO troops fired teargas at hundreds of Serbian protesters blocking the crossing.
The demonstrators - who do not recognise Kosovo's 2008 independence from Serbia - sang and chanted in front of the German and Austrian troops.
But scuffles once again broke out.
A Serbian government spokesman appealed for calm and urged all parties to resolve the dispute through diplomacy.
(SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) SERBIAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON, MILIVOJE MIHAJLOVIC:
"The Serbian government is in permanent contact with NATO, the European Union and the United Nations and we are trying to overcome this problem through diplomatic means. The goal is to bring the whole issue back to the negotiating table and to start resolving it one issue at a time."
There have been previous clashes along this border.
NATO troops have patrolled Kosovo since Serbian forces withdrew in 1999 and a U.N. and then E.U. administration took over.
More than 80 countries including the United States and most of the EU have recognised Kosovo as a sovereign country.
Simon Hanna, Reuters.