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\n\tKosovo shut down its largest border crossing with Serbia on Wednesday, underscoring the extent to which tensions between the two Balkan countries are rising.\n<\/p>
\n\tAlbanian-majority Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 with Western support, roughly a decade after North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces intervened and carried out a bombing campaign on behalf of ethnic Albanians during a 1998-1999 civil war.\n<\/p>
\n\tSerbia has refused to recognize the statehood of its former province, however. Instead, \n\taccording to<\/a> Agence France-Presse<\/em>, Belgrade has encouraged 120,000 ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo to defy Pristina's authority\u2014especially in northern Kosovo where Serbs constitute the majority.\n<\/p> \nAccording to<\/a> Al Jazeera<\/em>: \"About 50,000 Serbs living in ethnically divided northern Kosovo refuse to recognize the government in Pristina or the status of Kosovo as a country separate from Serbia. They have the support of many Serbs in Serbia and its government.\"\n<\/p> \n\tAs \n\tAFP<\/em> reported:\n<\/p> \n\tDue to recent border blockades and closures, just three entry points between the two countries remain open. The obstructions are \"preventing thousands of Kosovars who work elsewhere in Europe from returning home for holidays,\" \n\tAl Jazeera<\/em> noted.\n<\/p> \n\t\"Kosovo's government has asked NATO's peacekeeping force for the country, the approximately 4,000-strong KFOR, to clear the barricades\" erected on its side of the border, the news outlet reported. \"KFOR has no authority to act on Serbian soil.\"\n<\/p> \n\tKFOR commander Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia said Wednesday in a statement that \"it is paramount that all involved avoid any rhetoric or actions that can cause tensions and escalate the situation.\"\n<\/p> \n\t\"Solutions should be sought through dialogue,\" he added.\n<\/p> \n\tOn Tuesday, Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Sve\u00e7la accused<\/a> Serbia, under the influence of Russia, of trying to destabilize its former province by supporting ethnic Serbs who have been demonstrating for weeks in northern Kosovo.\n<\/p> \n\tAccording to \n\tAl Jazeera<\/em>:\n<\/p> \n\tKremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called<\/a> it \"wrong\" to blame Moscow for escalating tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.\n<\/p> \n\t\"Serbia is a sovereign country, and naturally, it protects the rights of Serbs who live nearby in such difficult conditions, and naturally reacts harshly when these rights are violated,\" said Peskov.\n<\/p> \n\t\"Having very close allied relations, historical and spiritual relations with Serbia, Russia is very closely monitoring what is happening, how the rights of Serbs are respected and ensured,\" he added. \"And, of course, we support Belgrade in the actions that are being taken.\"\n<\/p> \n\tIn a joint statement released Wednesday, the European Union and the United States \n\tcalled on<\/a> all parties \"to exercise maximum restraint, to take immediate action to unconditionally de-escalate the situation, and to refrain from provocations, threats, or intimidation.\"\n<\/p>\n\tThe latest trouble erupted on December 10, when ethnic Serbs put up barricades to protest the arrest of an ex-policeman suspected of being involved in attacks against ethnic Albanian police officers\u2014effectively sealing off traffic on two border crossings.\n\t
\n\tSerbia denies it is trying to destabilize its neighbor and says it only wants to protect the Serbian minority living in what is now Kosovan territory... not recognized by Belgrade.\n\t