Pristina - Czech KFOR troops helping to keep order in Kosovo in the wake of its independence had to interfere today with the crowd of riotous Serbian war veterans.
The KFOR troops is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force, having been deployed to Kosovo under a United Nations mandate to secure a safe environment in June 1999 after Kosovo was hit by a grave humanitarian crisis.
There are 430 Czech soldiers serving in Kosovo at the moment.
On Kosovo's border with Serbia called Gate 3, near the Czech army base in Šajkovac, a hundred rioters set alight tyres and threw stones at Kosovan police that patrols the border.
"Our soldiers are in the back-up line and are to support Kosovan police," Jiří David, head of the Czech KFOR contingent told Aktuálně.cz.
According to Jiří David, the situation should not escalate further more, as Kosovan police and Czech soldiers have everything under control.
Should any conflict burst out, the Czechs are ready to seal the border crossing.
Read more about our reporters in Serbia:
In pictures: Riots in Belgrade. Too close for comfort
War veterans in action
The Serb war veterans who fought in Kosovo against Albanian guerilla groups between 1998-99 arrived to the border post in several buses.
"The border crossing is usually calm but this morning it was really busy," Aktuálně.cz reporter Zdeněk Mihalco noticed on his way to Belgrade.
Allegedly, Czechs were not the first NATO troops helping to pacify the situation in the newly-independent Kosovo.
On Tuesday the US, French and Danish NATO troops had to patrol two border crossings in a northern part of Kosovo, ransacked by angry Serbs who set fire to UN and Kosovo police vehicles.
In yesterday´s Aktuálně.cz online interview head of KFOR Czech contingent lieutenant colonel Jiří David said he did not expect as bad troubles as there were during the riots in 2004.
A few hours ago people have started to gather in great numbers in Belgrade for a demonstration against Kosovo´s unilateral declaration of independence last Sunday.
