Northern Kosovo, with a predominantly ethnic Serb population, has long been a flashpoint of tensions between Pristina and Belgrade. The latest, over the option of opening the bridge on the Ibar River that divides the city into Serbian and Albanian parts, have been ongoing for weeks.
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00:00Police authorities in Kosovska Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, say at least four people
00:05were arrested in a part of the divided city dominated by Serbs following the visit of
00:11Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Monday.
00:14Serbian democracy leader Aleksandar Asenjevic was arrested and detained by the police.
00:20The latest comes amid the closure of two of the four border crossings with Serbia after
00:25protesters blocked the road and prevented motorists with Kosovo documents from passing
00:30through.
00:31We have an agreement now.
00:32The agreement must be respected.
00:33The agreement must be implemented.
00:34But Belgrade does not recognize the agreement it has recognized.
00:35Because now they have seen that the great Serbian ideology…
00:52Northern Kosovo, with a predominantly ethnic Serb population, has long been a flashpoint
00:58of tensions between Pristina and Belgrade.
01:01The latest have been ongoing for weeks over the option of opening the bridge on the Iba
01:06River.
01:07Any decision in this respect must be taken through dialogue and in timely and effective
01:15coordination with the international community.
01:18Serbian activists say they want Kosovo police officers withdrawn from the city.
01:24Some have also demanded that KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo, assume control
01:29over the northern region.
01:32The two closed crossings are in Kosovo's north.
01:35Serbian authorities say they will respond to Prime Minister Albin Kurti's actions by
01:40Friday, which they consider provocations.
01:44They have also said they are ready to continue the dialogue in Brussels in the hope to join
01:49the EU bloc.
01:51Both sides have an uneasy relationship.