PRISTINA -- Kosovar President Atifete Jahjaga has called for activists not to block the movement of goods from Serbia into Kosovo, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports.
Jahjaga issued a statement in Pristina calling "upon all the citizens not to block roads, not to block border crossings of the Republic of Kosovo with other states and not to hinder the free movement of people and goods."
The call comes as the Kosovar activist group Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) seeks to organize a peaceful protest to block goods from entering Kosovo from Serbia.
Meanwhile, the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States in Pristina issued a statement on January 13 expressing concern over Vetevendosje's planned activities to close the border.
The joint-embassy statement said such actions would not only be illegal but would also raise political tension in Kosovo and negatively impact Kosovo's image abroad.
Tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs living in northern Kosovo refuse to recognize the independence of Kosovo and consider it to be a part of Serbia. They have set up parallel Serb-institutions and have caused numerous disturbances at various border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and its sovereignty has been recognized by 85 countries.
