BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2023) The Kosovar authorities in Pristina Wednesday banned all trucks with Serbian license plates and goods from entering the territory of Kosovo from central Serbia, Kosovo Customs said.
"As of this moment (Wednesday evening) at all checkpoints, trucks with Serbian license plates and all trucks carrying Serbian products are banned from entering the (self-proclaimed) Republic of Kosovo," Kosovar news portal Gazeta Express quoted an excerpt from the order of Kosovo Customs.
Control and inspection of all vehicles with Serbian registration plates will be strengthened. Several trucks have already had to turn back when trying to enter Kosovo, the media reported.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Wednesday that Pristina was seeking to leave the Serbs without food and medicine in northern Kosovo by banning entry for trucks.
"They want to leave the Serbs without medicine, essential products, milk and everything else they get mostly from (the central Serbian town of) Raska. This shows their intention to completely expel the Serbs from northern Kosovo," Vucic said in an appearance on Radio Television of Serbia.
The president said that such measures on the part of Pristina violate International law and all previously signed agreements.
"(Kosovar Prime Minister) Albin Kurti wants to provoke an armed conflict at any cost," Vucic added.
Earlier on Wednesday, three individuals identified as members of the Kosovo police were reportedly detained by Serbia. Kosovo condemned Serbia's actions, saying the detention was an act of kidnapping. Petar Petkovic, the Serbian government's chief for Kosovo and Metohija Affairs, said that Belgrade was ready for an international investigation into the detention of armed members of Kosovo police on the territory of Serbia; however, he dismissed the allegations as groundless.
On Wednesday, Vucic met with the ambassadors of the Quint countries, namely, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, as well as the head of the European Union's delegation in Belgrade amid a new round of tensions in the region. The meeting came after officers of Kosovo special police units arrested a Serb while increasing their presence in northern Kosovo. The Serbian president did not provide any comment after the meeting.
On May 29, clashes erupted after Kosovo police forcefully installed new ethnic Albanian mayors in offices in several cities in the north following municipal elections in April. The polls were boycotted by the Serbian community but declared valid despite a turnout of just 3.5%. More than 50 Serbian protesters and at least 30 NATO peacekeeping troops were injured in the clashes.
