Members of the Italian Armed Forces, part of the NATO peacekeepers mission in Kosovo, stand guard near a roadblock in Rudare. /Reuters/Florion Goga
Former Kosovo Serb policeman Dejan Pantic, whose arrest heightened tensions between Pristina and Belgrade, will be released from custody and placed under house arrest, a Pristina court spokesperson said.
Pantic was arrested on December 10 on charges of assaulting police officers during a previous protest.
His detention fuelled tensions between the Kosovo government and the ethnic Serb minority who blocked roads in the north of the country demanding Pantic's release.
News of his release comes on the same day as Kosovo closed its biggest border crossing with Serbia amid the growing tensions.
Protesters blocked the border on the Serbian side to show their support for their ethnic kin in Kosovo in refusing to recognise Kosovo's independence.
The Merdare border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia is closed after protesters blocked it on the Serbian side. /Reuters/Florion Goga
Last month, representatives of ethnic Serbs in the north of Kosovo left state institutions including the police and judiciary over the Kosovo's decision to replace Serbian-issued car licence plates.
Tensions continued to build earlier this month, with Serbs in northern Kosovo exchanging fire with police and erecting more than 10 roadblocks in and around Mitrovica.The action came following the arrest of Pantic.
Kosovo local official Xhelal Svecla said earlier this week that Serbia was aiming to destabilise Kosovo, using the influence of Russia.
Serbia denied those claims, stating that it just wanted to protect its minority in Kosovo.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added: "Serbia is a sovereign country and it is absolutely wrong to look for Russia's destructive influence here."
Serbian President Aleksander Vucic. /REUTERS/Marko Djurica
As tensions continued to build, Serbia put its troops on high alert earlier this week with President Aleksander Vucic inspecting troops close to the border on Tuesday.
The government in Pristina has asked NATO's peacekeeping force for the country, known as KFOR, to clear the latest roadblock, close to the Merdare crossing.
However KFOR do not have authority to carry out such a move on Serbian land.
Kosovo announced that the crossing was closed, saying on Facebook: "If you have already entered Serbia then you have to use other border crossings ... or go through North Macedonia."
KFOR said it supported dialogue between all parties to defuse tensions in the north of the country.
"It is paramount that all involved avoid any rhetoric or actions that can cause tensions and escalate the situation," Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia said in a statement.
"Solutions should be sought through dialogue," he added.