Police, journalists attacked in Kosovo as Kurti is open to new elections

Kosovo police confirmed on Wednesday that three of their vehicles were attacked in Zvecan, resulting in broken windows and one injured police officer, as well as attacks on journalists and their vehicles, as Prime Minister Albin Kurti leaves the possibility of new elections open.

On Friday last week, the situation in the Serb majority north of Kosovo deteriorated after ethnic Albanian mayors, elected after Serb officials resigned in late 2022, took office in four northern municipalities. Serbs abandoned the recent vote to elect their replacements following calls to do so from Serbia.

Serbs in the north of the country refuse to recognise Pristina’s sovereignty and instead follow the lead of Belgrade. Therefore, they do not accept the new mayors elected with the lowest voter turnout in the country’s history and have tried to prevent them from entering office. By Monday, the situation had escalated significantly, with scores of injuries reported and tensions continued to simmer during the week.

On Wednesday, Kosovo police announced the incidents, mainly in Zvecan, Leposaviq, and Zubin Patok.

“We are committed to investigating these criminal acts and preventing violence from occurring. At the same time, the Kosovo Police calls on all protesters to refrain from violence and to express their opinions in a peaceful manner,” the police announced.

The police continued that the protests started as non-violent but deteriorated, resulting in the attacks. They added that obstructing the work of journalists violates the right to freedom of expression, information, and the press.

“We are committed to investigating these criminal acts and preventing violence from occurring. At the same time, the Kosovo Police calls on all protesters to refrain from violence and express their opinions peacefully,” the police notice said.

Also, on Tuesday, additional KFOR forces arrived in Zvecan, while in Zubin Potok, protestors set up tents, unveiled Serbian flags and played nationalistic music. Those protesting also waved the Serbian flag.

Meanwhile, at the GLOBSEC 2023 Summit in Bratislava, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti left open the possibility of holding new elections in the north.

“If they want peaceful protests, with a request for early elections, they have a prime minister who has been a political activist all his life and is more than willing to listen to them and maybe agree with them,” Kurti said.

But, he added that the violent protests with symbols of Russia being sprayed on vehicles and buildings are unacceptable.

In Leposavic, Mayor Lulzim Hetimi has been inside the municipal building for over 60 hours. He told the media he is in good health and will stay as long as is necessary.

“I am in my country. I go out tonight, I go out tomorrow, I don’t have a problem. Let’s see how the situation is developing outside and in Pristina, and then we decide,” Hetimi said.

As for KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force, Commander Angelo Michele Ristuccia, said that if it were not for their intervention, they would be mourning the dead in the north.

“If we had not intervened, now we would be mourning the dead”, declared Ristuccia.

He said that in Zveçan, people “intentionally incited the crowd” of Serbian residents who had gathered for four days before the municipal building.

Up to 40 NATO troops were injured during the recent unrest, including broken limbs, burns, and gunshot wounds. NATO announced another 700 would be deployed and that Kosovo’s participation in the ongoing regional military exercise Defender 2023 would be cancelled.

At the leadership level, Serbian President Aleksander Vucic told CNN that Serbia had fulfilled every obligation under EU-backed dialogue and agreements, while Pristina has failed.

“We have non-implementation of what was agreed on their side, and Serbs have fulfilled everything so far. Only one thing they should have implemented, which is the ZSO (Association of Serb Municipalities), they did not implement,” said Vucic.

While Kosovo has dragged its feet over the association it says is unconstitutional, Serbia has also failed to implement several obligations, including stopping obstructing Kosovo’s membership to international organisations, ceasing lobbying for its derecognition, and not interfering in elections.

He also said that “Kurti calls 97% of people in the north of Kosovo and Metohija fascists, criminals, extreme nationalists, blackmailed or bribed”, adding that ethnic attacks on Serbs had increased since Kurti came to power, without providing evidence for the numbers.

In fact, Kurti had said that there were peaceful protestors that had been infiltrated by provocateurs with criminal or political links who were there to escalate the situation.

Defence Minister Miloš Vučević tells RTS that the security situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija is precarious due to the administration’s unilateral, illegal, illegitimate decisions in Pristina.

“The current security risk in the north of Kosovo and Metohija is big, probably the biggest possible. Albin Kurti’s path leads to escalation, to conflicts, injuries, shootings and all those scenes we have seen, which we do not want to see anywhere, especially not in our country,” he said while calling the Kosovo government “illegitimate” and accusing them of “occupying” part of Serbia.

He also spoke of the red line that could evoke a strong response from Belgrade.

“Serbia has politically defined what the red lines are when Serbia finds itself in a situation where the most vital national and state interests are threatened. We are talking about scenarios where God forbid; someone kills Serbs, that physical liquidation begins of our people by the Kosovo police, the expulsion of Serbs, the pogrom, everything that happened to us 20 or 30 years ago. Those situations would be a red alarm and the moment when Serbia can’t just talk and sit idly by.” Vucevic said.

A source from the ethnic Serb side in north Kosovo told EURACTIV that Thursday could likely escalate beyond protests into unrest.

(Alice Taylor | Exit.al, Bojana Zimonjic | EURACTIV.rs)