Serbs gather for more Kosovo protests

Thousands of angry Serbs marched into Belgrade today protesting against Kosovo’s declaration of independence.

And hundreds of Serbian army reservists gathered at a Kosovo border checkpoint hurling stones at police and Nato troops as they crossed into Kosovo.

Serbian schools were closed and the state railway company made free trains available to take protesters to the rally in Belgrade, which organisers say will demonstrate Serbia’s commitment to holding on to the province of two million people.

More than a dozen nations have now recognised Kosovo’s declaration of independence, which was made on Sunday. They include the Britain, the United States, France and Germany.

But the declaration has been rejected by Serbia’s government along with the ethnic Serbians who populate northern Kosovo. Russia, China and numerous other nations have also condemned the declaration, saying it sets a precedent that separatist groups around the world will seek to emulate.

There were fears that today’s rally could spark renewed rioting by ultra-nationalists who attacked the US Embassy, McDonald’s restaurants and other Western interests in the capital earlier this week.

Meanwhile the Serbians at Kosovo’s Merdare checkpoint threw rocks and burned tires to create a billowing smoke screen before surging past guards.

The demonstrators, all army veterans who fought on the Serbian side in Kosovo’s 1998-99 war, arrived from the Serbian town of Kursumlija in buses and brought a bulldozer.

Tensions have remained high among Serbs in both Kosovo and Serbia, where Kosovo, home to dozens of important Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries, is considered sacred territory.