Yahoo – AFP,
February 5, 2017
Kosovska Mitrovica (Kosovo) (AFP) - Serbs in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica on Sunday began tearing down a concrete wall on the banks of the Ibar river that had drawn the ire of the Kosovar authorities.
Bulldozers tear down a concrete wall in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica on February 5, 2017 (AFP Photo/Armend NIMANI) |
Kosovska Mitrovica (Kosovo) (AFP) - Serbs in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica on Sunday began tearing down a concrete wall on the banks of the Ibar river that had drawn the ire of the Kosovar authorities.
The mayor
of the city's Serb-dominated northern sector, Goran Rakic, had said the barrier
was built last month to protect a new pedestrian zone near a bridge that
connects to the southern zone, home to most of the city's ethnic Albanian
population.
But the
two-metre-high (six and a half feet) wall, stretching some 100 metres, was seen
by many as an effort to cement the town's divisions.
On Sunday,
two bulldozers were employed by a crew of workers to start knocking down the
barrier, an AFP journalist reported.
The move
was the first evidence of a thaw between Belgrade and Pristina after weeks of
strained relations, and came after EU-sponsored talks between leaders of the
two sides in Brussels last week.
"It's
an extremely good sign, showing that both sides can reach an agreement given
sufficient political will," said Nataliya Apostolova, the EU
representative to Kosovo.
Tensions
had been running high in Kosovo since last month, when Belgrade sent a train
towards Kosovo painted in the colours of the Serbian flag, bearing the words
"Kosovo is Serbia" in multiple languages, and decorated inside with
Serbian Orthodox imagery.
Kosovo
called it a "provocation", and the train was stopped from crossing
the border over fears it would be attacked, according to Serbian Prime Minister
Aleksandar Vucic.
Members of
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority were also outraged by the arrest in France in
January of former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, under an international
warrant issued by Serbia.
Belgrade
wants to try him for alleged war crimes committed against civilians during the
1990s conflict.
Kosovo's
ethnic Albanian insurgents fought Serbian forces in 1998-1999. The former
province unilaterally declared independence in 2008, but Serbia denies Kosovo's
sovereignty.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.