Serbs in Kosovo protested that nation’s declaration of independence by setting two border posts on fire:
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Kosovo, Feb. 19 — Serbs protesting Kosovo’s declaration of independence torched two border posts manned by the United Nations along the northern border with Serbia on Tuesday as up to 2,000 protesters, some driving bulldozers, destroyed customs posts.
No one was injured, but the attacks were emblematic of the determination of the Serb minority in Kosovo, particularly in the exclusively Serb area around this city, to resist the idea that a new international border has been created.
“This is Serbia,” said Dragan Mitrovic, a 48-year-old resident of Mitrovica, which is about 18 miles south of the border posts. “The Serbian army and Serbian police should be here.”
In response, NATO troops have closed the border with Serbia:
Nato troops have sealed the northern borders of Kosovo after Serbs angry at its weekend declaration of independence ransacked two crossings.
Closing the borders will infuriate both Kosovo Serbs and Serbia’s government, says the BBC’s Nick Thorpe in Kosovo.
The move cuts Kosovo’s mainly Serb north off from Serbia, the country to which they insist they still belong.
You can see the nature of the problem just by looking at this map (click for larger size):
The four northern provinces of Kosovo are predominantly Serbian, and there are Serbian Orthodox monastery’s scattered throughout the country. If the Serbians don’t want to be a part of an independent Kosovo, then it’s hard to know what the solution is beyond relocation, which simply isn’t going to be acceptable in Europe today.
