2023-06-13 18:34:05
Balkans
Clashes between police and Serbs in northern Kosovo
The arrest of a man suspected of leading a Serbian paramilitary group sparked outrages in the city of Mitrovica on Tuesday.
Published
Alarm sirens sounded in the city.
Clashes between Kosovar police and members of the Serb minority in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica on Tuesday as Kosovo’s prime minister announced a plan in an attempt to ease tensions who have been undermining the region for weeks.
Stoned law enforcement
Mitrovica, divided between Serb neighborhoods located north of the Ibar River and Albanian part to the south, has been on the alert since Pristina inducted Kosovar Albanian mayors in four towns in the north of the territory, where a majority of Serbs live. . Thirty KFOR soldiersthe force led by NATO in Kosovo, were injured in clashes with Serb demonstrators.
Demonstrations injured 30 international soldiers.
Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said three police officers were “slightly injured”. He also confirmed the arrest of a man suspected of masterminding the attacks on KFOR troops in May. “Kosovo police arrested today (…) one of the leaders of the Civil Defense criminal group, which has been terrorizing our citizens for years,” he said on social media.
New elections
These clashes came as Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti presented a five-point plan to try to initiate a de-escalation, including new elections in the four disputed municipalities. He also called for the “immediate” resumption of discussions with Serbia under the aegis of the European Union. The Serbs had boycotted the April municipal elections in the four town halls where they are in the majority, which resulted in the election of Albanian mayors with a turnout of less than 3.5%.
Serbia, supported by its Russian and Chinese allies, has never recognized the independence proclaimed in 2008 by its former province, a decade following a deadly war between Serbian forces and Albanian separatist rebels. About 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, including a third in the north of the territory, which has a population of 1.8 million, the vast majority of whom are Kosovar Albanians. The Serbian minority remains largely loyal to Belgrade and refuses to recognize the sovereignty of Pristina. Kosovo Serbs are accused by some of being instrumentalized by Serbia.
(AFP)
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