Kosovo and its Serb minority reach deal on contested wall

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The Kosovo government says it's reached a deal with the country's ethnic Serb minority to resolve the issue of a concrete wall erected in the northern city of Mitrovica that has provoked tensions between Kosovo and neighboring Serbia. The action on February 5 came after an agreement between the Kosovar government and the country’s ethnic Serbian minority, aided by the U.S. Embassy and the European Union. Serbia's president has accused the authorities in Pristina of wanting to start a war, while his Kosovo counterpart has accused Serbia of potentially using the example of Russia in Crimea to annex the northern part of Kosovo. The border tensions started with the wall in December and increased other incidents in January, including a Serbian nationalist train that was stopped at the border.
Following diplomatic mediation by the European Union and the United States, minority Serbs tear down a concrete wall in Mitrovica. The city's majority Albanians regarded the wall as a provocation.