Serbs in northern Kosovo to start removing barricades from Thursday - Reuters

MITROVICA, Kosovo, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Kosovo Serbs who person been blocking roads successful bluish Kosovo for 19 days person agreed to commencement removing barricades from Thursday morning, bowing to calls by the United States and European Union to defuse tensions.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic who met Serbs from bluish Kosovo successful the Serbian municipality of Raska said the process of removing barricades volition statesman connected Thursday morning.

"It is simply a agelong process and it volition instrumentality a while," Vucic said.

He besides added that the United States and European Union, which are mediating talks betwixt Belgrade and Pristina to resoluteness outstanding bilateral issues, person guaranteed that nary of the Serbs who acceptable up barricades volition beryllium prosecuted.

Removal of the barricades is expected to defuse tensions betwixt Belgrade and Pristina.

For much than 20 years, Kosovo has been a root of hostility betwixt the West, which backed its independence, and Russia, which supports Serbia successful its efforts to artifact Kosovo's rank of planetary organisations including the United Nations.

The United States, NATO and European Union urged maximum restraint successful the northbound of Kosovo, arsenic authorities closed a 3rd borderline crossing connected Wednesday and tensions escalated with section Serbs implicit its 2008 independence.

NATO's ngo successful Kosovo, KFOR, said it supported dialog betwixt each parties to defuse tensions, which person included Serb roadblocks connected large arteries by trucks and different heavy-duty vehicles and convulsive clashes with police.

Serbia enactment its service connected its highest alert connected Monday.

The Kremlin, for its part, denied Kosovo interior minister's claims that Russia was influencing Serbia to destabilise Kosovo, saying that Serbia was defending the rights of taste Serbs.

A erstwhile Kosovo Serb policeman, whose apprehension triggered convulsive protests by Kosovo's Serb minority, was released from custody and enactment nether location apprehension aft a petition from the prosecutors' office, a spokesperson for the Pristina Basic Court told Reuters.

Dejan Pantic was arrested connected Dec. 10 for assaulting a serving constabulary officer. Since then, Serbs successful bluish Kosovo person exchanged occurrence with constabulary and erected much than 10 roadblocks, demanding his release.

The tribunal determination angered Kosovo authorities officials, including Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Justice Minister Albulena Haxhiu.

"I don't cognize however to recognize it and however it is imaginable that idiosyncratic who is accused of specified a superior transgression related to coercion goes to location arrest," Haxhiu said.

"I americium precise funny to spot who is the authoritative who makes this request, who is the justice of preliminary process that approves it," Kurti said.

Pantic was 1 of galore Serbs who near the constabulary and different institutions aft Pristina said it would enforce a instrumentality requiring Serbs to scrap Serbian-issued car licence plates dating backmost to earlier the 1998-99 guerrilla uprising that led to Kosovo's independence.

Serbs successful bluish Kosovo, which they judge to beryllium inactive portion of Serbia, defy immoderate moves they spot arsenic anti-Serb.

Two borderline crossings betwixt Serbia and Kosovo were closed connected Dec. 10 and a 3rd one, the biggest 1 for roadworthy freight, Merdare, was closed to postulation connected Wednesday, disrupting journeys of Kosovars moving elsewhere successful Europe from returning location for the holidays.

Around 50,000 Serbs surviving successful bluish Kosovo garbage to recognise the authorities successful Pristina oregon the presumption of Kosovo arsenic a abstracted country. They person the enactment of galore Serbs successful Serbia and its government.

Albanian-majority Kosovo declared independency with the backing of the West, pursuing a 1998-99 warfare successful which NATO intervened to support taste Albanian citizens.

Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Ivana Sekularac, Andrew Heavens, Nick Macfie, Barbara Lewis and Himani Sarkar

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