Ethnic Minorities in Kosovo Still Lack Freedom of Movement

Ethnic Minorities in Kosovo Still Lack Freedom of Movement

PRISTINA, Kosovo -- "When I travel through Albanian areas, I use my Kosovo license plate and when I reach Serbia or I'm back in Strpce I change it [to the Serbian plate]," says Milorad, a small retail shop owner. "I need to take these precautions, I don't want to endanger my family," he says.

Milorad is from Strpce, one of the most southern Serb enclaves in the majority Albanian province of Kosovo. Strpce can only be reached by passing through a Kosovo Police Service (KPS) checkpoint and another manned by Ukrainian troops that are part of NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR).

Milorad travels every two or three months to Serbia with his wife and children to visit his parents, who fled Kosovo in the aftermath of the March 2004 riots. But he lives in fear, and every time he ventures outside his Serb enclave he switches license plates, a survival strategy employed by many Serbs.

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