Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says barricades set up by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo will be removed when Kosovo forms an association of municipalities with majority Serb residents.
"First form the Association of Serbian Municipalities, then we will remove the barricades," Vucic told reporters in Azerbaijan, according to the Beta news agency.
The Association of Serbian Municipalities was agreed in the 2013 Brussels Agreement on normalizing relations but has never officially come into existence. U.S. special envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar told RFE/RL last week in an interview that creating the association is a necessary step forward for the region.
Groups of Serbs erected the barricades on December 10, preventing traffic toward two border crossings with Serbia. The barricades were set up after Kosovo police arrested former Serbian policeman Dejan Pantic on suspicion of being involved in an attack on Central Election Commission officials on December 6.
Violence broke out when the barricades were first set up, but the situation has calmed since then.
Vucic said the NATO-led international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR) has handled the situation “in a serious and responsible manner." Serbia last week asked KFOR to allow the return of police and military forces from Serbia to Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008. KFOR said it had received the request and was evaluating it.
WATCH: Dozens of extreme-right supporters rallied on the Serbian side of the Jarinje border gate with Kosovo on December 18.
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Serbian Far-Right Protesters Try To Break Through Police Cordons Into Kosovo
KFOR previously announced that it has increased its presence at the Jarinje border crossing due to the possible presence of "organized criminal groups."
Vucic also requested an explanation from Kosovo regarding the arrest of Pantic, stating that Belgrade does not know the motivation behind his arrest.
The roadblocks have paralyzed traffic through two border crossings with Serbia, which does not recognize Kosovo as independent. After the barricades were erected police said they suffered three firearm attacks on one of the roads leading to the border.
European Union police deployed in the region as part of a mission called EULEX said they were targeted with a stun grenade, but no officers were injured.
Tensions mounted in Kosovo after the main Serb political party said it would boycott local elections scheduled for December 18 in Serb-majority municipalities. Shortly after the barricades went up, Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani announced the postponement of the elections until April.
Even before the barricades were erected Serbs in northern Kosovo showed their discontent when they collectively resigned from police, judiciary, and senior city posts last month in protest at Kosovo's decision to move forward with a plan to replace Belgrade-issued car license plates with ones from Pristina.
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic warned on December 21 that the situation could escalate.
"We have to give our best, all of us together, to try to keep the peace,” Brnabic said during a meeting with Serbian NGOs. “We are really on the brink of armed conflicts, thanks to unilateral moves from Pristina."