Kosovo minister sees Russian influence in growing Serbian tension

Kosovo’s Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla has accused Serbia, under the influence of Russia, of attempting to destabilise his country by supporting the Serbs in northern Kosovo who have blocked roads in an escalation of weeks of protests.

Serbs in the ethnically-divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo erected new barricades on Tuesday, hours after Serbia said it had put its military on the highest combat footing following weeks of escalating tensions between Belgrade and Pristina over the protests.