Serbs, Ethnic Albanians Agree to Remove Kosovo Roadblocks

BUJANOVAC, Yugoslavia —  Serbs and ethnic Albanians agreed early today to remove blockades on a key road in Kosovo, signaling a possible easing of tensions in a border zone between Serbia and its southern province.

NATO officials issued a four-point document detailing the accord after saying they had secured verbal agreements from both sides.

“We made a big step toward a peaceful solution to the crisis in this region,” said Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic.

The 3-mile-wide border zone between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia was established by the 1999 Kosovo peace deal to keep heavily armed Serbian forces at a distance from North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led peacekeepers in the province. But the peacekeepers have no authority in the zone, and armed ethnic Albanians launched attacks there, killing four Serbian police officers and seizing several villages. Serbia is Yugoslavia’s main republic.