Kosovo: with FYR of Macedonia border blocked, UN mission forced to ration fuel

The border crossing between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo remained blocked for the sixth straight day, forcing the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to ration fuel, the UN Mission said today.

As a further consequence of the blocking of the Blace border crossing by demonstrators on the FYR of Macedonia side, the number of daily returns of ethnic Macedonian refugees from Kosovo remained low. A UN spokesman described the blocking as "unacceptable."

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an estimated 53,000 refugees from the FYR of Macedonia remain in Kosovo, while another 60,000 people are believed to have been displaced within the country itself.