Group of Serbs block roads leading to Kosovo's borders demanding withdrawal of police in north

A group of Serbs gathered Friday to block main roads leading to Kosovo border gates in southern Serbia until the UN and NATO's peacekeeping mission (KFOR) withdraw Kosovo police from northern Kosovo.

An announcement said earlier that protesters would eradicate various barricades on the roads during a 24-hour watch.

The group near Jarinje, one of the border gates with Kosovo in Serbia, reportedly allowed ambulances and vehicles with Serbian license plates to pass, while stopping trucks and Kosovars carrying commercial goods.

Carrying a 9-item list in their hands, the group demands Kosovo police in northern Kosovo withdraw from the region and KFOR take control and five municipal buildings belonging to Serbia, which have been closed in northern Kosovo, be reopened.

The protesters want to prevent the passage of people with documents issued by Kosovo authorities until Kosovo police withdraw from the north.

Stating they will not leave the area until their demands are met, the group acknowledged that their current number is small but would increase with buses coming from across Serbia.

Another group gathered near Merdare, another border gate of Serbia with Kosovo, stopped trucks while only allowing vehicles with Kosovo license plates carrying Serbian and Kosovo Serbs to pass.

Kosovo's foreign minister announced the closure of border crossings due to Serbian protests.

Donika Gervalla-Schwarz urged Türkiye, the US, Germany, France and NATO to intervene.

"Kosova will keep this border crossing closed until free movement is guaranteed and Albanians are secure," she wrote on X.

"The threats to close the border points are not only additional evidence of their hegemonic intentions, but also evidence of Serbia's concrete provocative and destabilizing actions that go beyond verbal threats," Gervalla-Schwarz said earlier Friday at a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in the Kosova capital of Pristina.

Kosovo police said it is continuing normal work. Vehicles are moving toward Merdar from both sides, according to a report by N1.

A series of steps by the Kosovar government have increased tensions, including making the euro the only legal currency in Kosovo, effectively outlawing the use of the Serbian dinar.

Nine branches of the Serbian Post Office, or Posta Srbije, which operates in northern Kosovo, were closed in an operation carried out by the country's institutions on Aug. 5.

Kosovo declared its unilateral independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008, but Serbia still sees Kosovo as its "own territory."