The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Kosovo: tension in the north, new explosions and bursts of gunfire 

2022-12-11T23:16:14.981Z


From today Serbian schools closed. Kfor and Eulex monitoring (ANSA)


Some explosions and shots were heard after 21 on Sunday evening in northern Kosovo.

In giving the news, the Serbian public TV Rts specified that the new detonations were recorded near the town of Rudare.

Throughout the north, in a situation of high inter-ethnic tension, the protest of the local Serb population continues, with barricades and road blocks, decided after the arrest of a former Serb agent of the Kosovar police.

In the most sensitive areas there are patrols of the NATO force (KFOR) and the European civilian mission (Eulex).

Schools operating in the Serbian education system will remain closed as of today.

The President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, in the light of the strong tension that persists in the country,

after consultations with the political forces, he announced the postponement of the local elections for the Serb-majority municipalities in the north to 23 April.

Calls to remove the barricades and roadblocks have come from the EU, NATO and the USA.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.

In giving the news, the Presidency in Belgrade did not specify the themes at the center of the meeting, which in all probability will be dedicated to the latest worrying developments in the situation in Kosovo, with the escalation of inter-ethnic tension in the north with a Serb majority, where since yesterday the Serbs implement roadblocks in protest against the arrest of a former Serbian policeman.  

Kosovar premier Albin Kurti accused Serbia of threatening a new war by sending its troops to Kosovo, and of supporting the activity of criminal groups whose illegal activities continuously destabilize the situation in the north.

Speaking today at a press conference in Pristina together with Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla after a Security Council meeting, Kurti said his government wants a democratic and prosperous future for Kosovo while Serbia wants to go back to the past scarred by war.

"The past must remain the same. We are a government of peace that wants to guarantee security for all citizens without distinction of ethnicity, religion, sex or age", Kurti said, denouncing the strong rearmament of Belgrade.

"

In his opinion, "Serbia's actions constitute constant threats. Peace in Kosovo came after our war and the help of the alliance (NATO, with the raids on Serbia in 1999, ed), at the end of a regime genocidal".

For Kurti, the package proposed by Ahtisaari has given local Serbs unprecedented rights.

"But the integration of the north (with a Serb majority, ed.) has not taken place even 14 years after independence and ten years of negotiations (between Pristina and Belgrade with EU mediation)".

Kurti then denounced how in all these years parallel structures (linked to Belgrade) have continued to operate in northern Kosovo, cars with illegal license plates continue to circulate, people work and trade with Serbian dinars, electricity you pay,

al parts of various other services.

This situation is absolutely unacceptable,” she said.

"We are a democratic government, we are interested in cooperation with the Kosovo Serbs. We are the most democratic and progressive government in the region" said Kurti, inviting the Serb community to cooperate with the Kosovan authorities in order to take decisions together.

"Unfortunately, Serbia, through criminal groups, has held and continues to hold the citizens of Kosovo hostage", constantly working to create chaos.

In this regard, the prime minister strongly condemned the roadblocks and barricades implemented yesterday by the northern Serbs, and asked the KFOR to intervene to guarantee freedom of movement for all residents - which is part of the mandate he received from the 'un.

"

Source: ansa

All life articles on 2022-12-11

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.