Since the declaration of independence, Serbia refused to deal directly with the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, but only through the international intermediaries UNMIK[6] and EULEX.[7] However, there has been some normalisation; beginning in 2011, an EU team persuaded Serbia to discuss some minor border issues with Kosovo; in February 2013, the presidents of Kosovo and Serbia met in Brussels.[8] Liaison officers are also being exchanged.[9]
On 27 March 2012, four Kosovo Serbs, including the mayor of Vitina, were arrested by Kosovo Police while attempting to cross the disputed border at Bela Zemlja back into Kosovo with campaign materials for an upcoming election. They were subsequently charged with "incitement to hatred and intolerance among ethnic groups".[10]
The following day, trade unionist Hasan Abazi was arrested with fellow unionist Adem Urseli by Serbian police manning the Central Serbia/Kosovo crossing near Gnjilane.[10] Abazi was charged with espionage and Urseli with drug smuggling.[11] Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić stated of the arrests that "Serbian police did not wish to take this approach, but the situation obviously could no longer go on without retaliation... If someone wants to compete in arrests, we have the answer".[11] According to his lawyer, Abazi was then held in solitary confinement.[12] On 30 March, the Serbian High Court in Vranje ordered Abazi to be detained for thirty days on espionage charges dating to an incident in 1999 in which Abazi allegedly gave information to NATO.[12] Abazi's arrest was protested by Amnesty International[13] and Human Rights Watch as "arbitrary".[10]
