The commander of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) said on Saturday his troops would remove Kosovo Serbs' barricades on the Serbian border on Monday if the local population did not do so.
General Erhard Drews expects unconditional and permanent access to the border, KFOR said in a statement, adding that if the locals did not remove the barricades by Monday, KFOR would do so peacefully.
Commander Drews is determined to ensure the provision of supplies to KFOR in northern Kosovo and undisturbed flow of people and emergency services of KFOR and EULEX, the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, the statement said.
Serbs in northern Kosovo will not let Kosovo's authorities, which they do not recognise, control the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings on the Serbian border. They set up barricades on the border crossings and the roads leading to them last month, forcing KFOR to use helicopters for the provision of supplies.
Earlier on Saturday, Drews met with the leaders of the majority Serb-populated municipalities in northern Kosovo, who asked him to wait until Wednesday, saying they could not remove the barricades in two days and that they did not want to be responsible for possible unpleasant situations.
