Kosovar police raids third administrative building in North Kosovo

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
26 May 2023 23:33
8 Shares

Earlier today, ethnic Serbs gathered in front of the administrative buildings to prevent the police and Albanian politicians from entering the buildings.

Aleksandar Arsenijevic, local politician, talks to police officers in the town of Zvecan, Kosovo, Friday, May 26, 2023 (AP)

Local media reported on Friday that police forces of the self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo forced their way into an administrative building belonging to the northern municipality of Leposaviq and occupied it after two other buildings were raided in Zvecan and Zubin Potok.

Earlier today, ethnic Serbs gathered in front of the buildings to prevent the police and ethnically Albanian politicians from entering the buildings.

The reason for this is that Pristina authorities have been attempting to install ethnically Albanian mayors in the north of the province after the April 23 local elections in northern Kosovo.

As a result of this, violent clashes erupted in front of the buildings, the Kosovo online news portal reported.

According to reports, the police used tear gas and stun grenades on protesters. Moreover, telephone services were shut off in Leposavic and alarm sirens blared in the northern municipality of Mitrovica.

About ten citizens who gathered to obstruct entry into the municipal buildings were wounded in the clashes. They are reportedly being hospitalized, the report adds.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Friday that the Serbian army was put on high alert because of the situation while also demanding that NATO "urgently stop violence against Serbs."

Kosovo Serbs - Serb employees of Serb-majority municipalities - clashed with police. The media reported that the police used stun grenades in Zvecan municipality. https://t.co/noXT4LcgQy #Kosovo #Serbia #PoliticalWar pic.twitter.com/QsWdJWHpJZ
— Rossa Primavera International News (@NewsFromDonbass) May 26, 2023

In 2008, Kosovo seceded from Serbia and unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia. An agreement to improve relations between Serbia and Kosovo was struck in 2013, but the conversation quickly came to a halt. Since mid-2022, tensions at the border have been building, occasionally rising into road closures in northern Kosovo.

In early March, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic announced that he is not willing to recognize Kosovo's independence nor permit it to join the United Nations despite heightened EU pressure to isolate his country.

Serbia's leader also revealed that the European Union has threatened to isolate Serbia and pull out all investments if the proposed Kosovo agreement was discarded.