Minister of Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic called on the people of northern Kosovo on Aug. 2 to maintain road barricades erected to prevent the Pristina authorities from taking control of checkpoints on the administrative boundary with Serbia proper.

"We plead with you to continue showing up in force to demonstrate our will and goals in a peaceful way and not allow the state of Kosovo to take hold here," the minister said in Rudare, where over 2,000 Serbs from the north of the province had gathered at the barricades.

Serbian negotiating team chief Borislav Stefanovic said that the problem of the administrative crossings needed to be resolved through negotiations and that the people of northern Kosovo would not allow Kosovo customs officers to return to the crossings.

He added that he had some bad news as well -- that Pristina was not ready yet to settle and that Serb representatives "are, to an extent, unwelcome."

Stefanovic warned that there was a danger of Pristina employing exhaustion tactics, provocations, and even resorting to violence to change the situation, and urged citizens to remain calm and maintain their unity.