NATO said in a statement on Sunday that tension was rising in Kosovo’s northern municipalities and that the Kosovo Force Pristina (KFOR) was closely monitoring the situation. FILE – A view from the road to the Jarinje and Bernjak border crossings after Kosovo Serbs removed barricades they had set up, in Jarinje, Kosovo, on October 2, 2021. Erkin Keci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force, was established in 1999 with the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which came in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis. Tensions are running high again amid a new government regulation that will force people entering Kosovo with Serbian identity cards to replace them with a temporary document during their stay there. PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE DECLARES MANDATORY EVACUATION OF DONETSK REGION On Sunday, Serbs in northern Kosovo — a partially recognized state bordering Serbia in the Balkans — blocked two key border crossings with Serbia to protest the new rule. NATO said KFOR is closely monitoring the situation “and is ready to intervene if stability is threatened”. “KFOR maintains a visible and flexible posture on the ground and the KFOR Commander is in contact with all his main interlocutors, including representatives of the Kosovo security organizations and the Serbian Defense Forces,” NATO said in a statement. The new regulation was due to come into effect on August 1, but Kosovo announced later on Sunday that it would postpone a decision on license plates and Serbian IDs until September 1.
