Tense stand-off in Kosovo border protest

(PODUJEVO) - Kosovo police and hardline ethnic Albanian protesters were locked in a tense stand-off Sunday as the authorities stopped some 1,000 demonstrators from blocking a border crossing with Serbia.

Police in anti-riot gear prevented protesters from the nationalist Self-Determination Movement from moving beyond Podujevo, a town in northern Kosovo some six kilometres (four miles) from the main Merdare crossing to Serbia.

Demonstrators carried banners saying "Serbia Will Not Pass Through" and had announced a blockade of the border to prevent Serb products from entering Kosovo's territory.

Last weekend a similar protest saw over 50 people wounded, including 31 police officers.

The Self-Determination Movement, which is the third biggest party in the Kosovo parliament, opposes all contact with Serbia and is working for unification with neighbouring Albania.

The European Union has described the protests as "completely unjustified".

Belgrade and Pristina have been at loggerheads since Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008. But the two sides agreed to free trade in September after months of EU-mediated talks.

No date has been set for a new round of talks, an EU official said.