Kosovo reported that 10 Kosovo police officers, including a deputy police commander, were detained for questioning in Serbia on April 17. Passenger buses that use Serbian territory as a transit zone were stopped for hours, Yahoo news reported.
"10 Kosovo police officers, Albanians and Serbs, were detained at the border posts. 5 of them were released and 5 are still detained," the Kosovo Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
There was no immediate reaction from Belgrade.
Earlier in the day, at least six buses from Kosovo were stopped for hours by Serbian police at a border crossing with neighboring Croatia before being allowed to continue their journey.
The Serbian Interior Ministry said that Serbian police did not detain anyone and did not try to prevent the entry and passage of Kosovar citizens. Law enforcement officials said security controls and checks had been stepped up, leading to the longer wait.
The increased checks followed the decision of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to recommend that Kosovo be invited to become a member of the Council of Europe (CoE).
"A day after PACE voted in support of Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe, Serbia is taking revenge on Kosovo civilians," Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti wrote on the H.
Serbia has rejected these accusations.
Pristina said the deputy commander of the Kosovo police was Dejan Jankovic, a Kosovo Serb who has not yet been released. All the police officers are caught off-duty.
Passengers on the buses who arrived at the checkpoint on April 16 said their documents were taken for verification and they were told to wait.
"They (the police) had focused on some checks on Albanians in connection with the 1999 war," said one passenger.
Kosovo travel agencies report similar delays at the Serbian border with Hungary.
EU spokesman Peter Stano said that the bloc is aware of the situation and that Serbia's move constitutes a violation of the agreement on free movement between Belgrade and Pristina./BGNES