Hundreds of Serbian officers in Kosovo's police force are refusing to take orders from Pristina. They say they do not recognise the authority of the newly independent state.

Meanwhile, locals who remember Russian peacekeeping forces protecting the Serb population after the 1999 war are once again looking to Moscow for help.

Swedish soldiers in the Kosovo town of Grachanitsa are meant to be protecting the residents of Kosovo, but instead they're protecting the police. Locals say they're nice guys, but they don't make them feel safe. 

Normally this town is looked after by Serbian officers in the Kosovo police force. But after independence hundreds laid down their weapons and handed in their badges.

They've been off work for 48 hours – refusing to take orders from Pristina – and are waiting for instructions from Belgrade or the United Nations.

The pressure is on for ordinary Serb citizens as well. They pray the violence they have witnessed in the past is never repeated. 

Back in 1999 Russian soldiers were made part of the peacekeeping forces after the war. They stayed for three years, protecting the Serbian population.

Many Serbs remember the day when Russian troops came as a great celebration.

“We threw flowers at them and offered them rakia to drink,” recalls Nadezda Cvetkovic, adding she hopes Russians will return.

The head of the Serbian community in Kosovo sees the situation less personally.

“We would like to see Russian peacekeepers here, but primarily, I call on Belgrade to stop playing political games and establish one large national government soon, and then invite Russia to set up permanent military bases in Serbia and Kosovo,” says Dr Marko Jaksic, President of the Serbian Municipalities of Kosovo.

Two weeks after Kosovo's declaration of independence, the situation there is far from settled. And with less than 30 countries having recognised the new state, problems in the international arena remain as well.