http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/12/13/62152808.html

Itar-Tass - December 13, 2011

Russian humanitarian convoy banned from entering Kosovo

The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, or EULEX Kosovo, prevented a convoy of Russian humanitarian supplies from entering northern Kosovo via the Jarinje checkpoint on the Serbian border.
The convoy consists of 25 trucks, carrying food, blankets, cutlery, and portable electric generators.
After the first two trucks went through the necessary customs formalities, the procedure was interrupted, without any explanation provided so far.

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http://rt.com/news/russia-aid-serbia-kosovo-733/

RT - December 13, 2011

Russian humanitarian convoy blocked at Kosovo border

A Russian truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid for Kosovo’s Serbian population is now heading back to Russia after daylong negotiations between Russia and EULEX proved fruitless. ­
The Russian convoy consisting of 25 trucks with humanitarian aid including power-plants, blankets, food supplies, furniture and other necessities had been heading for Mitrovica, the largest city in Kosovo’s Serb-dominated north. Two trucks were able to enter Kosovo through the Jarinje border checkpoint but the rest were not allowed through by the EULEX police in charge of the post. 
EULEX said it wanted to escort the convoy on its way to Mitrovica, but Russia said the region was safe and there was no reason for EULEX to accompany its trucks. Kosovo Serbs did not want to let EULEX police through as they saw it as an opportunity for Kosovo customs officials to sneak into their region. EULEX also said Russia could use another checkpoint at Merdare. However, Russia refused this offer because the checkpoint is under Kosovo control, a country Russia does not recognize. 
The Russian ambassador to Serbia, as well as Russian Emergency Ministry officials and diplomats arrived at the scene to negotiate with EULEX. The talks took place in a roadside café and in a nearby meadow. However, at the end the day, they were to no avail and the remaining 23 trucks are now heading back to Russia according to the latest reports for RT’s Igor Ogorodnev. 
In November 20,000 Kosovo Serbs signed a petition asking for Russian citizenship. The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected their demand but said Russia would help the Serbian population of Northern Kosovo with humanitarian aid. 
Northern Kosovo has seen a surge in violence this year after the government of Kosovo tried to enforce its trade embargo with Serbia. Some Kosovo Serbs launched an attack on customs checkpoints set up by the Kosovo administration, resulting in NATO and EULEX becoming involved. Since the summer the local Serbian population has set up barricades to prevent international peacekeepers from using the main roads in the region.

VIDEO: http://rt.com/news/russia-aid-serbia-kosovo-733/

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http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/296539.html

Itar-Tass - December 13, 2011

Kosovo Albanian authorities try to use Russian convoy for seizing control over checkpoint  

JARINJE: A Russian convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Kosovo Serbs has been staying at the entry to Kosovo since 2:00 p.m. Moscow time on Tuesday.
EULEX officers refuse to let the trucks cross the Jarinje checkpoint on the administrative border of central Serbia and Kosovo. The first two trucks were cleared by the customs and the procedure stopped by the order of the mission administration without any explanations.
EULEX insists that the convoy must be accompanied for security reasons, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Konuzin said. In his words, the Russian side has repeatedly declined the accompanying of the convoy as there are no threats to the convoy in northern areas of Kosovo.
Meanwhile, Kosovo Serbs refuse to let EULEX vehicles into the areas they control. A source in Kosovska Mitrovica told Itar-Tass that eleven EULEX vehicles are staying at the entry to the city. Kosovo Albanian border guards, customs officers and journalists are members of the so-called accompanying group. “It seems the Albanian side has decided to use the occasion for taking control over the Jarinje checkpoint, whose approaches are blocked by Kosovo Serbs,” the source said.
The Russian ambassador called the Serbian foreign minister to discuss the problem. The Russian Foreign and Emergency Situations Ministries were informed about the situation.
Russian diplomats, representatives of the Emergency Situations Ministry and the media insist on the free movement of the Russian convoy to the territory of Kosovo.
The convoy crossed the Romanian border on Saturday and headed for Kosovo for transferring the humanitarian cargo to the Serbian organization of the Red Cross in Kosovska Mitrovica.
Twenty-five trucks departed from Noginsk on December 7 to bring power plants, blankets, food, dishes and folding furniture to Serbia. The total weight of the humanitarian cargo is 284 tonnes. The convoy was supposed to cross the territory of Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Serbia.
Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday that the ministry was sending another humanitarian convoy to Kosovo Serbs.
“A convoy carrying humanitarian cargo will depart from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s 179th rescue center in Noginsk, Moscow region, to Serbia at 5:30 a.m. Moscow time on December 10,” he said.
The trucks will deliver diesel power plants, furnaces, folding furniture, household heaters, blankets, bed linen and food with the total weight of 160 tonnes, the minister said.

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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=13&nav_id=77768

Beta News Agency/Tanjug News Agency - December 13, 2011

Ambassador: EULEX blocking humanitarian aid

JARINJE: Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Konuzin says that the EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, is blocking a convoy of humanitarian aid. 
The 27 trucks carrying the aid to Serbs in the north, sent by Russia, are blocked at the Jarinje administrative checkpoint since Tuesday morning.
The convoy of trucks sent by the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations and meant to be delivered to Serbs in Kosovo arrived at the gates at Jarinje this morning, the ambassador told reporters at the spot, adding that the convoy had been told it would be allowed to cross the administrative line between central Serbia and the Kosovo province. 
He said that the formalities concerning the procedures for trucks to enter the southern Serbian province had to be observed and were underway. 
Two trucks have already been allowed to enter and are already in the province, and a third truck was currently undergoing the same procedure, said Konuzin. 
“EULEX then issued an order to halt the formal procedure, blocking the convoy movement," he said. "We received no information as to the reason for stopping the control procedure. Then we were given the ultimatum to either continue to move on accompanied by EULEX or to go to the Merdare checkpoint,” he said. 
Konuzin said EULEX had then been said it was not required to escort the convoy and that the convoy would not go on to Merdare because the crossing was controlled by authorities from Priština that neither Russia nor the Serbian authorities considered legitimate. 
For now, the movement of the convoy remains blocked, Konuzin said, adding that he was in contact with Serbian and Russian authorities trying to find a solution. 
“The most important thing is for the Russian humanitarian aid to reach those for whom it is meant - Kosovo Serbs,” the Russian diplomat said. 
Speaking in Kragujevac, central Serbia on Tuesday afternoon, Serbian President Boris Tadić "thanked Russia for sending the humanitarian aid", and added that "no convoy carrying aid to Serbs in Kosovo should be stopped as they are today the most vulnerable ethnic group in Europe”.

Russian trucks through, EULEX turned back

Earlier in the day, Serbs in northern Kosovo removed a barricade this morning to let through a convoy of 25 trucks carrying Russian humanitarian aid enter northern Kosovo. 
The barricade was located in front of the Jarinje administrative line checkpoint, in the area that's part of central Serbia. 
The vehicles then reached Jarinje, which is controlled by EULEX officials. Journalists also saw police officers of the Kosovo Albanian authorities from Priština there, but they did not check the trucks and cars. 
Russian Ambassador in Belgrade Aleksandr Konuzin traveled in the convoy. At the barricade, he exited his car to shake hands with the Serbs guarding the roadblock and took pictures with them.
But when a convoy of 11 vehicles belonging to the EU mission in the province, EULEX, headed for Jarinje from the southern, ethnic Albanian, part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbs turned them back twice from two locations. 
Initially, it was said that EULEX was sending vehicles to escort the Russian convoy, but when Konuzin said that such escort was not needed, Serbs stopped the EULEX vehicles in Zvečan. 
That convoy went back via the ethnic Albanian village of Čabra and via Jagnjenica, but soon after they made another attempt to reach Jarinje. The locals then stopped them in the village of Žerovnica near the town of Zvečan. 
Kosovska Mitrovica Mayor Krstimir Pantić told reporters that the Serbs blocked EULEX because the mission was "transporting Kosovo border police and customs" to Jarinje, as well as Albanian-language media crews from Priština, whose goal was to report that "the road toward Jarinje is passable, and that a Russian humanitarian envoy was the first to cross a customs post that Serbs are boycotting". 
Pantić described this as "yet another unnecessary provocation" on the part of EULEX: 
"This new provocation by EULEX was meant to cause the Serbs to react inappropriately and be blamed for that. It was unnecessary for EULEX to head toward the north when nobody asked them to do that." 
Ambassador Konuzin was expected to address the citizens at another barricade, in Leposavić, and then in Kosovska Mitrovica, where the aid shipment is to be handed over to the Red Cross. 
The shipment consists of food, tents, blankets, and other goods, and will be distributed to Serb families most in need of such assistance. 
It was announced that the ceremony in northern Kosovska Mitrovica would be attended by officials of the Ministry for Kosovo, the Red Cross, and local self-administration.
...
The presence of the Kosovo police was noticeably reinforced along the main road from Kosovska Mitrovica to Jarinje, said Tanjug's reporters in the province.

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