Kosovo enclave Serbs block road in protest

Villagers in the Serb enclave of Prilužje in Kosovo today held a one-hour protest gathering blocking a road leading to the construction site of a local bridge.

The new bridge over the Sitnica River would connect the enclave with a number of nearby villages populated by ethnic Albanians.

Citing past incidents, local Serbs fear that provocation and violence against them would escalate once the bridge was completed.

Serbs in Kosovo south of the Ibar River live in a number of isolated enclaves.

Late on Monday, representatives of Prilužje protesters met with the commander of the NATO-led troops in the province, Erhard Buehler.

He told them that while he could not stop the construction of the bridge, he could ensure KFOR’s permanent presence there in order to provide security.

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