Kosovo police tear gas small groups of ethnic Serbs who try to block the entrance to municipal buildings.
Small groups of ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo clashed with police as they tried to block the entrance to municipal buildings to prevent newly elected officials from entering, according to local media.
The police fired tear gas and many vehicles were burnt on Friday.
In response to the clashes, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a written statement carried by state-run RTS television that he had put the army on a “higher state of alert”.
Vucic also said he ordered an “urgent” movement of Serbian troops to the border with Kosovo.
Media reports also said that because of the “violence” against Kosovo Serbs, Vucic demanded that NATO-led troops stationed in Kosovo protect them from Kosovo police.
Kosovo police acknowledged their increased presence in the north “to help the mayors of the northern communities of Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok to exercise their right to work on official matters”.
The new mayors of three communes in northern Kosovo, most of which are home to the larger country’s ethnic Serb minority, were prevented from entering buildings by small groups of Serbs who raised their hands at the entrance of the municipalities, apparently in a sign that they are not there to engage in violence, the Albanian indexonline.net website wrote, also showing photos.
In Zvecan, the Kosovo-online.com site showed police clashes in front of a public building, while in Leposavic, they also blocked the main square with cars and trucks.
Earlier, Serbs also turned on their alarm sirens in four communes, including the major northern town of Mitrovica, in a sign of warning and rallying call.
Local elections
The snap election on April 23 was largely boycotted by ethnic Serbs and ethnic Albanians or other small minority representatives were elected to the positions of mayor and assemblies.
Local elections were held in four Serb-dominated communities in northern Kosovo after Serb representatives left their positions in protest last year and the Serbian community demanded the establishment of a promised association of municipalities. of Serbia in Kosovo, which will coordinate work in education, health care, land planning and economic development at the local level.
With Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs demanding autonomy, Kosovar Albanians fear the association could turn into a new mini-state like Bosnia’s Srpska Republika.
The establishment of the association was originally part of the 2013 Pristina-Belgrade agreement, but was later declared unconstitutional by Kosovo’s Constitutional Court, which ruled that it excludes other ethnic groups and could include the use of executive powers to impose sanctions. law.
Both sides have tentatively agreed to back an EU plan going forward, but tensions continue to simmer.
The United States and the European Union are pressing Kosovo on the issue of association.
The US and EU are stepping up efforts to help resolve the Kosovo-Serbia dispute, fearing further instability in Europe as the war in Ukraine continues.
The EU has made it clear to Serbia and Kosovo that they need to normalize relations to advance their intentions to join the bloc.
The conflict in Kosovo erupted in 1998 when separatist ethnic Albanians rebelled against Serbian rule, and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown.
About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died.
NATO’s military intervention in 1999 eventually forced Serbia to leave the territory.
Washington and most EU countries recognize Kosovo as an independent state, but Serbia, Russia and China do not.
