Serbs, a minority in Kosovo but the majority in the north of the country, demonstrated in front of the town hall in the city of Zvecan to demand the resignation of the municipality’s new mayor, who belongs to the ethnic Albanian group, a minority in the area.
According to the digital portal Kossev, KFOR (Kosovo Force) intervened when, despite the call of their political leaders, the crowd refused the passage of two Kosovan special police vehicles that had been blocked between the demonstrators since the morning.
Demonstrators demanded the withdrawal of all special police officers who were in the city hall building and some media outlets reported shots being fired.
More than 50 people were treated in a hospital for problems caused by tear gas poisoning and bruising, three of whom were hospitalized, and one person was shot and is seriously injured, in danger of life, the director of the Clinical Center reported for Mitrovica, Zlatan Elek, quoted by TV channel N1.
Hundreds of Serbs demonstrated in three municipalities in northern Kosovo to demand the removal from their respective chambers of new mayors from the Albanian minority elected last April in elections boycotted by the Serb community, the majority in these municipalities.
Soldiers of the KFOR mission, tasked with ensuring security in Kosovo, placed themselves between Kosovan special police units, located in front of the municipal building, and the demonstrators, and at least 25 were also injured: some were hit by ‘cocktails’ Molotov, others suffered fractures.
Eleven of them are Italians and three are in a serious but not life-threatening condition – a situation that has led to a condemnatory response from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The Atlantic Alliance has also condemned today’s events in northern Kosovo, calling them “unacceptable”.
“NATO strongly condemns the unprovoked attacks on KFOR forces in northern Kosovo, which left several injured. Such attacks are totally unacceptable. The violence must stop immediately,” said a spokesman for the Western defense organization.
The United States and the European Union (EU) also joined the chorus of condemnation of the attacks in North Kosovo, through the voice of the US Ambassador to Pristina, Jeffery Hovenier, and the head of the EU delegation in the country, Tomas Szunyog.
“The United States strongly condemns the actions of the protesters today in Zvecan, including the use of explosives, against KFOR forces seeking to keep the peace. We reiterate our call for an end to violence and actions that de-escalate tensions increase and to resolve the conflict,” Hovenier wrote on the social network Twitter.
Szunyog also called for “an immediate cessation of violence and a reduction in tensions”.
The Serbs in northern Kosovo do not recognize the authorities of the new mayors, who were elected in April in a vote with a turnout of just 3 percent, because of the boycott of the Serbian population, a minority in the country but a large majority in four municipalities in northern Kosovo.
The elections were held after representatives of Kosovo Serbs left Kosovo institutions last November in protest of the discrimination they say they are being targeted by the central government.
Pristina rejected the US ambassador’s proposal that, in order to ease tensions, the new mayors should exercise their functions in other facilities.
Kosovo, a former Serbian province populated by a majority of Albanians, declared its independence in 2008, which Serbia does not recognize.
The two countries are negotiating the normalization of their relations under a new EU plan, backed by Washington, in a process often punctuated by clashes.
Source: DN
