Kurti said in a video message posted on the social network Facebook that mayors are the only ones who have legitimacy to be in municipal facilities and at the service of the citizens.
“That is why they have our full, unconditional and continued support,” the Kosovo prime minister assured.
The mayors of four Serb-majority municipalities were elected last April in elections boycotted by the community, which had a turnout of just 3 percent.
On Friday, Kosovar police used violence against Serb demonstrators to force Kosovar Albanian mayors to take office.
Serbian protests have been underway since Monday to demand that Pristina remove the special police and mayors whose authority they do not recognize from municipalities.
Tensions led to clashes between Serb protesters and NATO forces in Kosovo on Monday, in which 50 protesters and 30 soldiers were injured.
Albin Kurti accused extremist groups and Belgrade-instructed criminals of violence, adding that Kosovo institutions had intensified their contacts with international partners to appease the situation.
Serbia accuses the government of Pristina of discriminating against and acting violently against the Serbian community in Kosovo.
US Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier today blamed the Kosovo government for the “crisis environment” in the north.
The North American asked Pristina that the mayors perform their duties in alternative facilities and that the special police force withdraw from the municipalities, as these measures were essential to defuse tensions.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced today that the organization has sent an additional 700 troops to Kosovo to quell the violent protests and put another battalion on standby in case the unrest spreads.
“We have decided to send an additional 700 troops from the operational reserve forces to the Western Balkans and to put an additional battalion of reserve troops on alert so that it can be deployed if necessary. These are prudent measures,” Stoltenberg told reporters. Oslo after a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
The composition of a battalion usually varies between 300 and about 1,000 soldiers.
Serbia has never recognized the independence declared by the former province in 2008, and tensions between Belgrade and Pristina regularly rise. About 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, about a third of whom live in the north of the territory.
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
