Nato troops patrol Kosovo-Serbia border

JARINJE: Soldiers with a Nato-led peacekeeping mission are keeping watch at the Kosovo-Serbia border after the two countries reached a deal to deescalate tensions triggered by a dispute over vehicle license plates.

Kosovo Force troops from the United States, Italy and Poland were seen patrolling on Saturday as ethnic Serbs removed the trucks they had used to block the road to two border crossings while protesting the Kosovo government's decision not to allow vehicles with Serbian license plates into the country.

Kosovar special police forces also pulled back from the border, where they were deployed two weeks ago to remove the license plates from entering cars and to replace them with temporary registration in Kosovo.

The government in Pristina said they were replicating what Serbia had done to Kosovar motorists for a decade. Kosovo was a Serbian province before it declared independence in 2008.