Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic late Wednesday announced the removal of barricades in northern Kosovo after being assured by the US and EU that there will be no arrests.
Vucic's remarks came after holding talks with representatives of Serbs in Kosovo. He said the removal of the barricades will begin early Thursday.
"If the arrests continue, they (Kosovo Serbs) will close the north of Kosovo forever, they will set up barricades that will never be removed and that will be a border for Pristina that they will never cross. They are asking for a promise that there will never be recognition of Kosovo and Kosovo remains as the territory of Serbia. I asked them to respect what I came for, to ask them to start removing the barricades and give a chance for conversation, peace and trust," he told reporters after the meeting.
Serbia has received guarantees from the US and EU that there is no arrest list for Serbs who took part in protests and setting up barricades, said Petar Petkovic, head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, a coordination body of the Serbian government.
No one will face criminal prosecution for the protests, he said.
"At the moment, we have managed to preserve peace when we were on the verge of a serious conflict and bloodshed," said Petkovic.
Tension between Kosovo and Serbia has escalated since the Dec. 10 detention of former Serbian police officer Dejan Pantic on suspicion of attacking election officials.
Protesting Pantic's arrest, Kosovo Serbs have been standing guard at barricades they set up at border crossings since Dec. 10.
Two new barricades were set up after Kosovar authorities blocked Serbian Patriarch Porfirije from entering the country ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations.
Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. But Serbia has not recognized the move and sees its former province as part of its territory.
The EU, NATO and the US have called for de-escalation and the removal of barricades in northern Kosovo, while Serbia has requested to deploy its army and police based on a UN resolution.
