Head of Belgrade negotiating team in the talks with Pristina Borislav Stefanovic said Tuesday afternoon that agreement had been reached with KFOR commander Erhard Buehler on the withdrawal of all members of the special units of the Kosovo police from the northern part of the province to Pristina.

Stefanovic told journalists that it had also been agreed with the KFOR commander that all roads in northern Kosovo should be unblocked and made free for traffic, and that members of the Kosovo police of Serb nationality should be deployed at the administrative check points until 8 a.m. on Wednesday, at the latest.

He called on the Serbs that had gathered at the check points in Jarinje and Brnjak to stay there throughout the night out of precaution and in order to prevent any possible abuse or disregard of the decision from the part of the Kosovo authority.

Stefanovic called on the gathered people to remain calm and dignified, and to refrain from any kind of incidents.

An official of KFOR units in Kosovo confirmed Tuesday evening that local Kosovo police units now control the crossings in northern Kosovo, that the special units of the Kosovo police ROSA had for the most part withdrawn from crossings and that KFOR forces are securing the safety.

KFOR is there in order to secure safety, but we do not check cars or trucks, the KFOR official, who wanted to remain unnamed, told Radio Free Europe.

He confirmed that special units of the Kosovo police had for the most part withdrawn from the crossings in the northern part of the province.

Situation at Jarinje, Brnjak administrative crossings stable

Director of the Serbian government’s Office of Media Relations Milivoje Mihajlovic stated that the situation at Jarinje and Brnjak administrative crossings is stable and that there are no incidents.

Mihajlovic told Radio Television B92 that special units of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) have left both administrative crossings and that KFOR members are there now.

In his opinion, there is no reason for concern and it is important that Serbs in Kosovo stay calm and not be taken in by any provocation. He added that the decision of the Serbian government that Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic and Head of the negotiating team Borko Stefanovic go to Kosovo was justified.

The idea was that Bogdanovic and Stefanovic establish communication with KFOR and calm the passions among Serbs, which was successful.

Mihajlovic urged the media to verify the information coming from Kosovo because accurate information is very important in such situations.

The Director of the Office of Media Relations pointed out that there has been confusion in the public due to a large number of misinformation related to the unrest in Kosovo, and warned that this suits many people who want riots to take place.

He underlined that the purpose of last night’s attempt at taking over administrative crossings in the north of the province was to cause unrest among the Serbian population and to endanger dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as to impose new topics for discussion and thus play down the importance of the blockade of trade of goods from Serbia.

Mihajlovic said that dialogue with Pristina will not be interrupted because representatives of the Serbian government do not want to make moves that will be harmful to any citizen of Kosovo-Metohija.

Dialogue is the only way to solve problems in Kosovo-Metohija. We cannot look for an alternative and we do not want to turn our back to the resolution of problems in the province, Mihajlovic concluded.