Clashes in Kosovo, 14 Italian KFOR soldiers wounded

The new tensions in northern Kosovo risk precipitating the situation in the heart of the Balkans, with the ethnic conflict that today recorded a worrying escalation resulting in violent clashes between soldiers of the NATO Force and Serb demonstrators who oppose the entry into service of new ethnic Albanian mayors in the four largest municipalities of the north with a Serb majority. The new serious incidents, after those of last Friday, took place in Zvecan, where the KFOR military, after repeated warnings and appeals to lift the blockades that also prevented the movement of local police vehicles, confronted Serbian demonstrators who had been besieging the local Town Hall for hours to prevent the new mayor from taking office in his office. In the fierce clashes, the military made extensive use of displaced people, tear gas and stun grenades, while the Serbs responded with a dense throwing of stones, bottles, Molotov cocktails and other objects. The toll of the battle is very heavy, with dozens of NATO soldiers injured, 14 of them Italians, of the ninth Alpine Regiment L'Aquila. At first there was talk of 41 soldiers involved but in the evening the KFOR command reported about 25 wounded soldiers.

Three of our compatriots suffered quite serious injuries - mostly burns from Molotov cocktails and fractures - but they are not life-threatening. The commander of the KFOR mission, Italian General Angelo Michele Ristuccia, expressing his solidarity with the wounded soldiers, said he was personally following the evolution of the situation and assured that the NATO contingent remains "impartial". Immediate solidarity and participation came from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - who condemned the attack as "unacceptable and irresponsible", warning that other such actions will not be tolerated - and from the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, Antonio Tajani and Guido Crosetto, who expressed the closeness of the institutions to the wounded soldiers and the wish for a speedy recovery.

"It is essential - underlined Meloni - to avoid further unilateral actions by the Kosovo authorities and that all parties involved immediately take a step back, contributing to the easing of tensions. The Italian government's commitment to peace and stability in the Western Balkans is maximum and we will continue to work with our allies." A few dozen Serbs were injured in clashes in Zvecan, one of the four municipalities in the north with a Serb majority. The others are Zubin Potok, Leposavic and North Mitrovica. Also in these other places the Serbian population contests the election of new ethnic Albanian mayors that took place in the local vote of 23 April, a consultation boycotted by the Serbs and whose legitimacy is also contested by Belgrade because of the extremely low turnout, just over 3%. It is unacceptable, the Serbs argue, for mayors representing 2% of the population to govern cities whose inhabitants are 98% ethnic Serbs.

The clashes took place at the end of a hectic day full of meetings, contacts and phone calls in an attempt to defuse what appears to be a bomb ready to explode at any time with unpredictable consequences. The leadership of Pristina - President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti -,Pointing to the regularity of the April 23 vote, they point the finger at Belgrade and the illegal structures it maintains in northern Kosovo. Structures, they argue, that have turned into criminal gangs attacking the Kosovo police, the KFOR military and journalists, and on which they place the entire responsibility for the violence and persistent instability in the north. The Serbian authorities, for their part, accuse Pristina of wanting to occupy the north with the aim of expelling the local Serbian population. A wall-to-wall situation that seems to have no way out. And this is demonstrated by the fruitless results of the numerous meetings of the last days and hours that Belgrade and Pristina have had with representatives of the international community - EU, USA, Quint, NATO, OSCE -, all seasoned with appeals for calm and to avoid further escalation. The US ambassador to Pristina Jeff Hovernier proposed that the new mayors work not from their offices in their respective town halls but in other buildings. A solution, however, branded as "unacceptable" by Kosovar Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi.