Balkans: Clashes between police and Serbs in northern Kosovo

Clashes broke out between Kosovar police and minority Serbs in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica on Tuesday after Kosovo’s prime minister announced a plan to In an attempt to ease the tension They undermined the area for weeks.

Stoned law enforcement

Split between Serb neighborhoods north of the Ibar River and Albanian territory to the south, Mitrovica has been vigilant since Pristina incorporated Kosovar Albanian mayors into four cities in the north of the Serb-majority territory. Thirty KFOR soldiersNATO-led force in Kosovo were injured in the clash with Serbian demonstrators.

last Fever fits It happened when Kosovo police arrested a man suspected of leading a Serbian paramilitary group. Serbian demonstrators regrouped and threw stones at Kosovo police, who were forced to retreat, an AFP correspondent reports. Warning sirens sounded in the city.

Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said three police officers were “slightly injured”. He also confirmed the arrest of a man suspected of masterminding attacks on KFOR troops in May. “Kosovo police arrested today (…) one of the leaders of the Civil Defense criminal group that has been terrorizing our citizens for years,” he said on social media.

New elections

The clashes came as Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurdi presented a five-point plan to begin expansion, including new elections in four disputed municipalities. He also called for the “immediate” resumption of negotiations with Serbia under the EU. Serbs boycotted April municipal elections in four town halls where they hold a majority, resulting in Albanian mayors being elected with less than 3.5% of the vote.

Serbia, backed by its Russian and Chinese allies, has never recognized independence declared by its former province in 2008, a decade after a deadly war between Serbian forces and Albanian separatist rebels. About 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, including the northern third of the region’s population of 1.8 million, most of whom are Kosovar Albanians. The Serbian minority remains largely loyal to Belgrade and refuses to recognize Pristina’s sovereignty. Kosovo is accused by some Serbs of being instrumentalized by Serbia.

(AFP)