Serbian Deputy Minister for Kosovo arrested in Drsnik village

The participants in the meeting said that along with Ristic, police detained another ministry official, Borislav Tajic, Director of the Center for Social Works in Kosovska Mitrovica Miladin Djurovic, and Klina Municipal President Svetislav Dabizljevic.

Boza Markovic, who represents the retrunees in the village of Drsnik, was also taken into custody.

The officials of the ministries and local administration financed by Belgrade had a meeting in the village with returnees regarding social issues, and other problems that they were facing.

Police interrupted the meeting and took the five Serb officials to the station for several hours of interrogation.

Ristic was released and escorted to the administrative line checkpoint of Merdare, between central Serbia and Kosovo, while the others were taken back to Drsnik.

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic reacted to the incident by saying that the international community "will have to rein Pristina in".

He told Beta news agency that the arrests were "no incident, but clear proof that Pristina (Kosovo Albanian government) has opted for a radicalization".

The minister also noted that incident will not contribute to the reconciliation between Serbs and ethnic Albanians and "can only lead to new divisions and conflicts in Kosovo".

"The international community will this time have to clearly state its position and when and how it will restrain Pristina and bring it to common sense," Bogdanovic was quoted as saying.

"This incident is a clear message from the so-called Kosovo government that they will not allow Serbs to return to Kosovo and that they are not welcome there, that is, that those not to the liking of the Kosovo government cannot live in Kosovo," said he.

"All the detained people live with their families in Kosovo and Metohija and this is yet another proof that there is no freedom of movement in kosovo" Bogdanovic stated.