Tensions have risen rapidly in northern Kosovo following local elections last month. Ethnic Serbs on Monday clashed with KFOR soldiers, NATO’s peacekeeping force in Kosovo, as they attempted to storm municipal offices. The demonstrators wanted to prevent ethnic Albanian mayors elected last month from taking up their posts there, international news agencies report. At least 25 NATO soldiers and more than 50 Serbian demonstrators were injured.
Ethnic Serbs mainly live in the four northern municipalities where Albanian mayors have been elected. Most of the inhabitants of those areas boycotted the elections and therefore do not recognize the Albanian representatives. Tensions were already running high at the end of last week: Serbian demonstrators then also took action at the town halls, in which at least ten people were injured. As a result, Serbia put its army on high alert and moved soldiers towards the Kosovo border.
According to the police, Serbs gathered at three of the four municipal buildings on Monday morning. Especially in Zvecan, about 45 kilometers from the capital Pristina, the demonstrators tried to forcefully enter the building. NATO soldiers used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and, they say, to protect the representatives. The Serbs threw tear gas and stones back, among other things. Vehicles were also destroyed and set on fire.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence (since 2008) and regards the country as a province of Serbia. There are some 3,800 KFOR soldiers stationed in Kosovo by NATO, but they have rarely been deployed so far.
Read more about the tensions in Kosovo here: The words war and Balkan fall into one ominous phrase again