- Local Kosovo media reported that Serb groups in northern Kosovo were clashing with police as they tried to block the entrance to the city hall to prevent recently elected officials from entering.
- Serbian President Alexander Vucic orders ‘urgent’ movement of Serbian troops to Kosovo border
- Vucic also said in a written statement broadcast on state-run RTS television on Friday that the military had been put on “higher alert”.
In northern Kosovo on Friday, a small group of Serbs clashed with police as they tried to block the entrance to the city hall to prevent entry by recently elected officials, according to local media.
Police fired tear gas and several cars were set ablaze. In the wake of the clashes, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a written statement broadcast on state-run RTS television that the army had been put on “higher alert”. Vucic also said he had ordered an “urgent” movement of Serbian troops to the Kosovo border.
Vucic will attend a rally in Belgrade in support of him following two mass shootings earlier this month that killed 18 and injured 20.
Media reports also said Mr Vucic demanded NATO-led forces stationed in Kosovo to protect the Serbs from the Kosovar police, citing “violence” against Kosovar Serbs.
Kosovo police have confirmed that they are increasing their presence in the north “to assist the mayors of the northern communes of Zvekan, Reposavić and Zvin Potok in exercising their right to perform their duties for official purposes”. .
Serbia, Kosovo leaders to discuss EU-backed plan to normalize ties
Police said five police officers were injured by stun grenades and other hard objects thrown by demonstrators. One police car was burned and three others were damaged. Police also reported hearing gunshots.
Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd and let the new staff into the office. A Serb hospital official in Kosovo said about 10 demonstrators were injured.
U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeff Hovenia tweeted: “I condemned the ongoing actions by the Kosovar authorities to break into the city hall in northern Kosovo. Today’s violence should stop immediately.”
The new mayors of three communes in northern Kosovo, a predominantly ethnic Serb minority, were barred from entering buildings after a small group of Serbs raised their hands at the entrance to the municipality. Albania’s indexonline.net website has written and photographed instructions to join the violence.
In Zvekán, the Kosovo-online.com site reported clashes with police in front of public buildings, and in Reposavić, police blocked the central square with cars and trucks.
Kosovar Serbs have clashed with police after blocking recently elected commune leaders from entering the town hall. (Fox News)
Earlier, the Serbs had also switched on alarm sirens in four communes, including the main northern town of Mitrovica, as warning signs and calls to rally, but police said that “criminal gangs were used to mobilize and rally.” It is said that it is a siren used for
The 23 April dissolution elections were largely boycotted by the Serbs, with only Albanian or other ethnic minority members elected to the mayoral office and parliament.
Local elections in four Serb-majority communes in northern Kosovo after Serb representatives resigned last year in protest against the establishment of an association to coordinate education, health, land planning and economic development efforts at the local level. was done.
Kosovar Albanians fear that the association will become a new mini-state, like Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, as Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs demand autonomy.
A 2013 Pristina-Belgrade agreement on the plan was later declared unconstitutional by the Kosovo Constitutional Court, which said the plan did not include other ethnic groups and required the use of executive power to impose the law. made the judgment that it could be
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The two countries have tentatively agreed to back the EU’s plans on how to proceed, but tensions continue to escalate. The association issue is one of the main issues, with both the United States and the European Union putting pressure on Kosovo.
The United States and the EU are concerned about further destabilization of the situation in Europe due to the escalation of the Ukraine war, and are strengthening their efforts to resolve the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia. The EU has made it clear to both Serbia and Kosovo that they need to normalize relations in order to advance their membership intentions.
The Kosovo conflict erupted in 1998 when separatist Albanians revolted against Serbian rule, and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. About 13,000 people, mostly Albanians, died. NATO’s military intervention in 1999 eventually forced Serbia to withdraw from the territory. The US government and most EU countries recognize Kosovo as an independent state, but Serbia, Russia and China do not.
