The barricades put up near Leposavic on the road leading towards the Jarinje administrative crossing were removed Tuesday evening, Tanjug's on-site reporter said.

On the major road between Kosovska Mitrovica and Raska near Leposavic, heavy machinery and trucks, as well as piles of timber, which had been set up in the night of July 25, following the attempt of the Kosovo Police Service special unit Rosu to assume control over the administrative crossings Jarinje and Brnjak, were removed.

An empty tent and benches remained near the road, and only several citizens are present in the vicinity of the checkpoint.

As Tanjug learned earlier from Leposavic Mayor Branko Ninic, by removing the barricades in that municipality of northern Kosovo, the city authorities showed that they will respect and implement the interim agreement reached between the Serbian government and KFOR.

He said that the Serbs will keep watch over the checkpoint in shifts, and in that way follow closely the situation at the Jarinje administrative crossing.

The barricades that Serbs had set up in the village of Rudare near the town of Zvecan, and in Zupce near Zubin Potok will remain until further notice, but the traffic is running smoothly.

Serbs from Zubin Potok removed Wednesday the barricade in the nearby village of Zupce, which was put up on the road leading towards the Brnjak administrative crossing over two weeks ago, Tanjug's on-site reporter said.

The only barricade left in north Kosovo is the biggest one located in the village of Rudare near the town of Zvecan on the magistrate road between Kosovska Mitrovica and Raska, which is nearly one hundred meter long.

Ivanovic says removal of Rudare barricade requires time

Serbian State Secretary for Kosovo-Metohija Oliver Ivanovic stated in Zvecan on Wednesday that the Rudare barricade does not represent a major problem unless removal of barricades constitutes one of the conditions for the realisation of the interim agreement between the Serbian government and KFOR.

He explained that KFOR is aware that removal of the Rudare barricade would require a bit more time because it is technically complicated and consists of construction machines.

In an interview for the Radio and Television of Serbia morning programme, Ivanovic said that KFOR has an alternative passage through Mitrovica's district of Zvecan.

“When one municipality fails to bring its representatives and the other immediately decides to withdraw its barricades, we cannot talk about unity, and unity is the idea that preserved us,” Ivanovic said commenting on the fact that Zubin Potok representatives did not attend the Tuesday meeting in Leposavic while the barricade in Leposavic was removed during the night.

Ivanovic believes that this disunity does not jeopardise the interim agreement between the Serbian government and KFOR, but “it still causes harm to us, because the moment disunity becomes visible, we become a target for many who do not have a benevolent attitude toward us.”

“We badly need unity, and parties, partisanship and party policy can wait until some pre-election period,” Ivanovic said.

He expressed expectation that people would slowly gain confidence in terms of the agreement and its implementation, adding that “we need to consider KFOR because it is an international factor with which we had relatively positive cooperation so far.”

Provisional agreement with KFOR enables peace, reduces tensions

Head of the Serbian government’s team for dialogue with Pristina Borislav Stefanovic and Director of the Serbian government’s Office of Media Relations Milivoje Mihajlovic stated that the provisional agreement made between the Serbian government and KFOR is good in given circumstances and the majority of citizens also believes so.

Stefanovic and Mihajlovic said late yesterday in a broadcast on Radio Television Serbia that gradual removal of barricades in the north of Kosovo may be expected.

Stefanovic specified that the agreement envisages the freezing of the current situation on the ground, control of the administrative crossings by KFOR and removal of barricades by the Serbs.

Also, the agreement stipulates that there should be no so-called Kosovo customs on the administrative crossings and in the north of Kosovo, or members of the special unit of the Kosovo police.

The agreement also allowed the passage of vehicles carrying up to 3.5 tonnes, the head of the Serbian government’s team said and added that this agreement received firm international guarantees.

He underlined that making this agreement is very positive for our state because Serbia has been given full legitimacy to negotiate with the international community about Kosovo-Metohija.

Therefore, the international community did not negotiate with representatives of municipalities of northern Kosovo, but with the state of Serbia, and with this we confirmed our sovereignty, Stefanovic highlighted.

Mihajlovic said that many people understood that this agreement is a chance for peace, that it reduces tensions and brings life back to normal.