Posted on 02/19/2008 4:26:03 AM PST by maquiladora
Pristina - NATO-led peacekeepers have closed two border crossings toward Serbia on Tuesday and stepped up its presence in the area owing to an 'escalating situation' on the other side, police said in Pristina.
The peacekeepers from the KFOR mission took control over the crossings from the Kosovo and international police, shortly before noon, spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'There are two border crossings in northern Kosovo which are closed, at Janjine and Leposavic, due to the very serious situation which is escalating there,' Elshani said.
One of the crossing points the Serbian side was torched and the other one blown up in an explosion. 'Police has completely withdrawn from the places and KFOR is in charge now,' Elshani said.
KFOR has sent reinforcement in the north, KFOR spokesman, Colonel Bertrand Bonneau, told dpa.
'We are reinforcing in northern Kosovo after these two incidents,' he said. 'We have set up checkpoints in the area and we will use all necessary means to put the situation under control.'
(Excerpt) Read more at news.monstersandcritics.com ...
JARINJE, Kosovo (Reuters) - NATO peacekeepers were being sent to newly independent Kosovo's border with Serbia on Tuesday to defend frontier posts under attack by Serbs who oppose its secession.
Serbs burned down one border post and were attacking a second, a Kosovo police spokesman said.
Kosovo police manning the post called for help from the NATO peacekeeping force, KFOR, which said it was stepping in.
"KFOR is going to intervene now," a force spokesman said. He declined to say which troops of the 35-nation, 17,000-stong force were being deployed.
"Protesters have destroyed the border crossing post at Gate 1 in Jarinje," the Kosovo police spokesman said. "No one has been injured."
Protesters were also attacking a second post at Zubin Potok in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north, he said.
Police had taken shelter in a tunnel there as more than 1,000 protesters tried to tear it down, Kosovo police sources said.
"We asked NATO to send a helicopter to evacuate our officers," a police source told Reuters in Pristina.
Even when the Russian tanks arrive??
God protect and save the Serbs.
Despite Putin’s tough talk and harsh rhetoric, and to put it bluntly, he doesn’t have the balls to do it. - Or the ability.
Putin’s style is to run and hide behind a little wall of lies, as in arming Iran with nuclear weapons, while screaming like a child about a defensive missile shield that will be put in place to protect the West from those same weapons.
He may also use the Gasprom card to cut off that supply to the West and rant and rave at the UN.
That’s it.
While Russia did redeploy its assets currently in place in Bosnia to Pristina during that conflict, Putin is not the man who could do that again, even if someone here could show him how to deploy armor and logistical support to Serbia without violating the airspace of the surrounding countries.
Kosovo would have never declared "independence" without being very sure of those facts, and also sure that the UN forces would protect them from the Serbs. - As they are now doing.
UN ? I thought they were NATO forces ?
My misprint. I stand corrected. - Thank you. - bill
Do you recognize the irony of your position?
I don’t think so. NATO will probably be pretty solid as long as uncle is there.
Should NATO leave - and I don’t think that it will - then the Serbs will indeed have the upper hand.
I know what you mean about another front, but it is already done, and I cannot imagine the Serbs offering organized combat against NATO forces.
I cursed Bill from day one about this debacle, but hey, we all know that to the dems, no democrat can do any wrong as long as that big D is next to their title.
From Superpower divide over Kosovo widens
By ROBERT WIELAARD
Associated Press Writer
In Bucharest, Romanian President Traian Basescu called Kosovo's declaration "an illegal act" - a position rooted in Romania's traditional close ties with Serbia.
I believe that opens the door to the Black Sea.
“God protect and save the Serbs.”
Sounds like it’s the Serbs initiating the violence.
American soldiers is part of the NATO force.
Is history to repeat itself? What would happen if this is allowed to stand and say California decided to secede?
I am quite adamant that what the Serbians were doing to the ethnic Albanians was and is wrong... But to split the country? Sorry, I'm not buying.
It would help if you educated yourself about Serbia and it’s province of Kosovo.
There isn’t going to be any Russian tanks. You are living a pipe dream.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.