After a brief period of calm, the dispute over the freedom of movement of Kosovar Serbs has returned to the news, and the ethnic Serbian majority in the north has set up roadblocks again to protest the border closure.
Though the Kosovo central government had banned all trade with neighboring Serbia, in practice the border crossings in the north had long remained open, allowing Kosovar Serbs to come and go as they pleased. This ended when the Kosovo government invaded the region in late July to capture the border post.
The move prompted angry protests and even some clashes with the locals, and eventually the NATO troops announced they were taking over the disputed border crossings, to ensure that no pesky trade occurs.
The Kosovar Serbs have complained that their inclusion in the NATO-enforced secession was a mistake, and that they would have preferred to remain part of Serbia. Despite this, the Kosovo government has ruled out ever allowing the northern region to secede, saying to do so would be “inhuman.“