KFOR has no operational plan for a forcible removal of roadblocks leading to the administrative crossings in northern Kosovo, but that does not mean it will not use force, because it reserves the right to do so, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Adametz, the main spokesman for KFOR command in Pristina, has told the Belgrade-based daily Politika.

He stressed that the information the Serbian side had regarding the existence of an operational plan for a removal of the barricades by force was not accurate.

If KFOR estimates that there is no safe and peaceful environment and that there is no freedom of movement, we reserve the right to forcibly remove the roadblocks, said Adametz. For now, we will not use force, he added.

Adametz refused to respond precisely when asked whether the use of force meant KFOR would use its heavy machinery to remove the barricades and also attack the Serbs who had said they would defend the roadblocks with their bodies.

He only reiterated that KFOR would not use force for the time being.

The barricades in northern Kosovo were set up by local Serbs as a response to the merger of the Kosovo north to Pristina's system of institutions.