25 NATO peacekeepers injured during clash in northern Kosovo – National | 24CA News
The NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping power on Monday stated that 25 of its troops had been injured within the clashes with ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo who had been attempting to take over the workplaces of one of many municipalities the place ethnic Albanian mayors took up their posts final week.
The Serbs began clashing with the police within the morning within the municipality of Zvecan, 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of the capital, Pristina. In the afternoon, KFOR troopers known as on Serbs to clear the best way for 2 automobiles from the Kosovar particular police forces.
The troopers then used tear gasoline and stun grenades to guard the Kosovar officers within the automobiles and disperse protesters, based on witnesses and native media. The assembled Serbs responded by throwing rocks and different arduous objects.
“Several soldiers of the Italian and Hungarian KFOR contingent were the subject of unprovoked attacks and sustained trauma wounds with fractures and burns due to the explosion of incendiary devices,” stated a KFOR assertion.
Some Kosovo police automobiles and one belonging to journalists had been broken. Pictures confirmed graffiti with Serb nationalist symbols sprayed over them.
The violence was the most recent incident as tensions soared over the previous week, with Serbia placing the nation’s navy on excessive alert and sending extra troops to the border with Kosovo, which declared independence from Belgrade in 2008.
Kosovo and Serbia have been foes for many years, with Belgrade refusing to acknowledge Kosovo’s sovereignty.
The United States and the European Union have stepped up efforts to assist remedy the Kosovo-Serbia dispute, fearing additional instability in Europe as Russia’s struggle rages in Ukraine. The EU has made it clear to each Serbia and Kosovo they have to normalize relations in the event that they’re to make any progress towards becoming a member of the bloc.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov thought-about the scenario in Kosovo as “worrisome,” blaming the U.S. and NATO for claiming dominance in that a part of the world.
“A big `explosion’ is brewing in the center of Europe, in the very place where, in 1999, NATO carried out aggression against Yugoslavia,” he stated from Nairobi, Kenya.
On Monday, Kosovar police and the NATO-led Kosovo Force, or KFOR, had been seen defending the municipal buildings in Zvecan, Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Mitrovica, 4 municipalities within the north that held early elections final month.
The votes had been largely boycotted by ethnic Serbs, who kind the bulk in these areas. Only ethnic Albanian or different smaller minority representatives had been elected to the mayoral posts and assemblies.
Police stated that Serbs gathered early Monday morning at three of the municipal buildings _ in Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok however not in northern Mitrovica. In Zvecan, they tried to enter utilizing violence and tear gasoline. The scenario stays tense in Zvecan, a police assertion stated.
Serbia’s prime minister, Ana Brnabic, criticized the worldwide dealing with of the occasions in Kosovo, saying that KFOR was “not protecting the people, they are protecting the usurpers,” apparently referring to the brand new mayors.
“But we must protect the peace. Peace is all we have,” she stated.
Defense Minister Milos Vucevic stated the Serbian military was wrapping up its deployment following the choice to boost the alert stage. Vucevic, who stated he hoped for a political resolution, additionally criticized KFOR, saying that their place “looks like they are protecting the police from unarmed people.”
Serbs say they need each the brand new mayors, whom they known as “illegal and illegitimate sheriffs,” to resign and go away the workplaces, and particular police to go away northern Kosovo, based on Goran Rakic, an area Serb politician.
KFOR elevated its presence within the 4 municipalities, together with Mitrovica. It known as on all sides to chorus from actions that might trigger escalation and urged each “Belgrade and Pristina to engage in the EU-led dialogue.”
U.S. Ambassador Jeff Hovenier met with President Vjosa Osmani after which along with different western powers’ ambassadors _ the U.S., France, Italy, Germany and the U.Okay. often known as the Quint — with Prime Minister Albin Kurti, urging him to take steps to de-escalate the scenario and cut back tensions.
They steered the newly elected mayors work in different buildings, not from the municipality buildings.
“Peaceful protest needs to remain peaceful,” stated Hovenier, denouncing the Serbs’ violence.
EU Ambassador Tomas Szunyog denounced the assault on journalists’ vehicles saying that “journalists must be allowed to conduct their work without fear for their safety.”
Last Friday, ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, who’re a majority in that a part of the nation, tried to dam not too long ago elected ethnic Albanian officers from coming into municipal buildings. Kosovo police fired tear gasoline to disperse the gang and let the brand new officers into the workplaces.
More than a dozen Serbs and 5 Kosovar cops had been injured. Serbian troops on the border with Kosovo had been placed on excessive alert the identical day.
The U.S. and the EU condemned Kosovo’s authorities for utilizing police to forcibly enter the municipal buildings.
At a rally Friday night in Belgrade along with his supporters, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated, “Serbia won’t sit idle the moment Serbs in northern Kosovo are attacked.”
However, any try by Serbia to ship its troops over the border would imply a conflict with NATO-led troops stationed there.
The battle in Kosovo erupted in 1998 when separatist ethnic Albanians rebelled in opposition to Serbia’s rule, and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. About 13,000 folks, principally ethnic Albanians, died. NATO’s navy intervention in 1999 finally pressured Serbia to tug out of the territory. Washington and most EU international locations have acknowledged Kosovo as an impartial state, however Serbia, Russia and China haven’t.
