Kosovo reopened two of its four border crossings with Serbia on September 7 after protests on the Serbian side, which had blocked cross-border traffic, came to an end.

The reopening of the border crossings marks a temporary easing of tensions in the region, though the political and security situation remains fragile.

The Kosovar government had closed the Brnjak and Merdare border crossings due to the blockades on the other side of the border and fears of potential unrest. The protesters are challenging Kosovo's decision to close five facilities of Serbian provisional authorities.

Kosovan Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla announced that the crossings were reopened after the blockades, which had been set up by masked extremists in Serbia, were removed.

“Seeing that there are no obstacles to traffic from and to the border points of Kosovo, we made the decision to reopen the Merdare and Brnjak border points for circulation,” Svecla said in a Facebook post.

Svecla accused Serbia of escalating a “special war” against Kosovo, using a combination of propaganda, subversive operations, and diplomatic pressure, which he claimed were inspired by Russian tactics.

He asserted that Serbia's attempts to destabilise Kosovo had repeatedly failed, frustrating Serbian leaders including President Aleksandar Vucic. Svecla emphasised that Kosovo's sovereignty and Euro-Atlantic orientation were non-negotiable.

Last week, Rasa Rojevic, head of the association of citizens of the North Mitrovica district, announced plans for blockades of all northern border crossings between Kosovo and Serbia starting on September 6. These blockades were expected to affect crossings at Brnjak, Jarinje, Merdare, Konculj and Kula.

Rojevic stated that the blockades would persist until Kosovo police withdrew from northern Kosovo and Serbian institutions were reinstated for local Serbs. He also called for KFOR, the Nato-led peacekeeping force, to take control of northern Kosovo in line with UN Resolution 1244.

The blockades, he said, would not involve Serbs from Kosovo to avoid potential clashes with Kosovo police but would instead draw participants from central Serbia, Montenegro, and Republika Srpska, the Serb entity in Bosnia.

"We will continue our protest until the situation in northern Kosovo is resolved," Dragisa Miric, a protestor from Serbia was cited by RFE/RL.

Agim Musliu, director of Kosovo’s Octopus Institute, commented on the recent blockades, accusing Serbian President Vucic of organising the protests with backing from Belgrade and Moscow, RTK reported on September 8.

Musliu argued that the protests had failed due to the low number of Serb participants from Kosovo and described the overall effort as a clear failure.