“The establishment of permanent border-crossing buildings will be financed by the European Commission…which plans to finalise tender and contract procedures this year and start building these IBM corssing points at the beginning of 2014,” the Kosovo government said in a statement on Wednesday.

The agreement on the IBM (integrated border management) system, part of the EU-facilitated deal to normalise relations between Pristina and Belgrade, was finalised last December.

Under the terms of the agreement, all border security authorities and trade agencies from Kosovo and Serbia will coordinate their work.

On the ground, it means that Kosovo and Serbian customs and police officers will be under one roof once the agreement becomes operational.

Four checkpoints have already been working since December 2012.