Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has put the army on combat alert and ordered units closer to the border after clashes on Friday between Kosovo police and protesters against ethnic Albanian mayors.
Clashes between Kosovo police and ethnic Serb protesters took place in the town of Zvecan, Kosovo on May 26, 2023. Photo: Reuters
Police fired tear gas in the town of Zvecan to disperse crowds trying to block the newly elected mayor from his office, after an April vote was boycotted by Kosovo's Serb majority in four northern regions near the border with Serbia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has criticised Kosovo authorities for using force to enter city buildings and called on Prime Minister Albin Kurti to change his approach. The UK, France, Italy, Germany and the US have issued a joint statement calling on Kosovo authorities to de-escalate the situation.
The United States has been Kosovo's main political , military and financial supporter since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Ethnic Albanians make up more than 90% of Kosovo's population, while Serbs are a majority in the northern part of the country.
Serbs in the northern region of Kosovo reject the 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, nearly a decade after the end of the war there, and still consider Belgrade their capital.
A Western-backed plan agreed by Kosovo and Serbia in March aims to ease tensions by giving local Serbs more autonomy, with the government in Pristina retaining supreme power.
Huy Hoang (according to Reuters)
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