Feb 20 (Reuters) - NATO peacekeepers said on Wednesday they were determined to maintain Kosovan and U.N. authority on the breakaway republic of Kosovo's border with Serbia, where Serb crowds burnt down two crossing points a day before. Here are some facts about the new state's borders. - Landlocked Kosovo has 10 official border crossings with its four neighbours -- five with Serbia, two with Macedonia, two with Albania and one with Montenegro. - These are jointly controlled by police and customs officials of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and by the Kosovo Police Service. NATO peacekeepers can provide backup if called on. - U.N. resolution 1244, of 1999, states in Annex II that "a small agreed number -- hundreds, not thousands" of Serbian state personnel will be permitted to return to Kosovo for four specified fuctions including to maintain a presence at key border crossings, but they have not done so since. It is unclear how Kosovo will respond should they seek to do so now that it has declared independence. - Serbia says it respects 1244, but does not recognise independent Kosovo or the new European Union mission set to take over from UNMIK over the next four months. Russia also considers the EU mission illegal. - NATO peacekeepers are manning the two destroyed border posts and says they will reopen when they are repaired and Kosovan and U.N. officials are back in place. Belgrade says it plans to restore at least customs controls on its side of the two crossings. There has been no trouble at the other three crossings between Kosovo and Serbia. (Writing by Douglas Hamilton; edited by Richard Meares)
A riot police stands in front of protestors near the Greek embassy in Skopje February 19, 2008. A few hundred youths demonstrated in front of the Greek embassy in Skopje to ...
Serbia
