Kosovo police opened fire today on a car heading towards the border with Serbia, according to local authorities. Belgrade announced that one of its Serbs Kosovo was wounded by gunfire.

The episode comes at a time when tensions have lingered in the region for months, and Belgrade and Pristina are under diplomatic pressure to find solutions to many of the problems they face in their relationship.

The shooting took place on a road connecting the communities of Leposavić and Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, where there are many Serbs, when a car did not stop at a police checkpoint. According to the Kosovo authorities, the police opened fire “to neutralize the danger.” The police also claim that the driver hit the guard’s car with his car.

The Serbian government, which does not recognize Kosovo’s independence, said a Serb living in the area was shot in the chest and taken to Serbia for treatment.

Kosovo police did not report any injuries, saying only that the car “left the scene”.

Since November, the situation in northern Kosovo has remained tense. Hundreds of Serbs, including police officers, judges and prosecutors, resigned en masse in protest against the (later suspended) decision to ban Kosovo Serbs from using Serbian license plates. Shortly thereafter, members of the Serb minority set up barricades, blocking the roads leading to the Serbian border.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}