The soldiers of the international protection force used stun grenades and tear gas in front of the municipal office in the village of Zvecan in the afternoon. Angry ethnic Serbs threw stones, bottles and other objects at them, local media reports. The crowd had initially refused the vehicles standing there Kosovar let the police drive away.
KFOR peacekeepers were also injured in clashes with Serbs. NATO, which leads the KFOR protection force, reports about 25 wounded. KFOR condemned the attacks on its troops and stressed that such attacks were “completely unacceptable”.
There are also said to have been injuries among the Serbian demonstrators. According to hospital information from the nearby town of Mitrovica, a Serb was shot. A reporter from the local broadcaster RTK also reported injuries.
In the morning, around 300 KFOR soldiers in combat gear took up positions in front of the municipal office in Zvecan. This is reported by a reporter from the German Press Agency. Around 50 soldiers from Poland and Hungary surrounded the administration building, as reported by a journalist from the afp news agency, and positioned themselves between demonstrators and police officers. At the same time, a large number of Serbian demonstrators had gathered in front of the official building. When some protesters tried to enter the building, police used tear gas and pepper spray and pushed the crowd back.
Serbian army on alert
The police officers had gained access to the municipal office on Friday, which was immediately violent protests militant ethnic Serbs. The security forces also intervened. The police had escorted the new mayor. This is an ethical Albanian who wanted to take office. Posted after the riots of Serbia president Aleksandar Vucic put the army on “high alert” and sent soldiers to the border with Kosovo.
Serbian activists also protested on Monday in two other places in northern Kosovo, where mayors from the Albanian-majority population also took office. The three were elected in April, with almost all members of the Serb minority boycotting the election. That is why the election winners come from Albanian parties. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti installed the mayors last week, defying the demands of the EU and the USA. The previous Serbian mayors resigned in November 2022 in protest against the policies of the Kosovan government.
The Serbian demonstrators are demanding the withdrawal of the Kosovan security forces from the region. They are also demanding the dismissal of mayors from the ethnic Albanian population group in the region, which is inhabited mostly by ethnic Serbs.
The NATO-led security force KFOR has been supposed to guarantee security throughout Kosovo since 1999. It currently has almost 3,800 members, including around 70 Bundeswehr soldiers.
kle/qu (dpa, afp, ape, rtre)