January 4 (SeeNews) - NATO-led international peacekeeping Kosovo Force (KFOR), the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX Kosovo) and Kosovo police have removed the last barricades placed by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, regional media reported.
The removal of the last barricades in the town of North Mitrovica was completed peacefully and without disturbances, the Balkan branch of Radio Free Europe reported on Tuesday.
Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said in late December that ethnic Serbs will start removing their barricades, shortly after the release of a former policemen whose arrest sparked protests in northern Kosovo.
Ethnic Serbs have been protesting and blocking the roads to the border with Serbia with demands for the withdrawal of special units of the Kosovo police from northern Kosovo, the release of arrested Serbs, and the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities, as agreed by the governments of Kosovo and Serbia in 2013. Kosovo has closed three checkpoints on the border with Serbia due to these blockades since the protests started.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo's independence.