Belgrade and Pristina have reached an agreement on customs collection and border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo, the Serbian Government said on Friday. The agreement was stamped by Serbian PM Ivica Dacic and Kosovar PM Hashim Thaçi. Money collected from customs "will go to a special fund to be used for the development of municipalities in northern Kosovo", Belgrade explained.

Dacic draw positive conclusions from the Serbia-Kosovo agreement. The PM considers it to be "a first step towards the establishment of autonomy" for Kosovo Serbs, since "the autonomy of finances and revenues is the basis for any autonomy".

As we explained last week, the Serbian government intends to create some sort of self-governing region for Kosovo Serbs that would manage large powers including education, justice, culture and home affairs.

After the meeting, Thaçi said that he was "more optimistic" than before about the relations between Pristina and Belgrade, European Voice quoted him as saying. From a Kosovar point of view, the agreement means that Serbia is implicitly acknowledging that there is a border between two distinct political entities. The government of Kosovo insisted on Wednesday that it will not agree to any discussion on Kosovo's political status.

Kosovo considers itself to be an independent country since 2008, while Serbia has vowed never to recognize its secession.

Albanians protest in Presevo Valley

Meanwhile, a group of Albanians concentrated in the southern Serbian town of Presevo after the Serbian police yesterday removed a monument that had been erected to the members of the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB). The monument was deemed illegal by the Serbian authorities. Some 200 special police forces, with the help of machinery, removed it, as can be seen on this video by Al Jazeera. The government of Kosovo has accused Serbia of bearing "hate" against Presevo Albanians.

The UÇPMB was an ethnic Albanian militant group that led an insurgency against Yugoslavia between 1999 and 2001 in the Presevo Valley. They demanded the annexation of Presevo to neighbouring Kosovo.