Tension rises between Serbia and Kosovo
Belgrade, June 24 (RHC) The authorities of Serbia and the self-proclaimed autonomous province of Kosovo accused each other today of raising the tension in the area after regional elections in the latter territory.
After the results of those elections became known, minority Kosovo Serbs refused to accept Kosovo Albanian mayors in four northern municipalities and are protesting daily in front of local town halls.
In Belgrade, the head of the Government Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, accused Pristina of misinformation and deception to continue with daily provocations to cause conflicts and "trample on any possibility of dialogue and normalization".
According to Petkovic at a press conference, Pristina intends to create pretexts for further arbitrary arrests and intimidate the population with the increasing concentration of special police in the north.
He also described Kosovar Prime Minister, the nationalist Albin Kurti, as a "madman who wants to set fire not only to the north but to the region". He accused Kurti of mocking the European Union (EU), which last Thursday called for an immediate de-escalation.
On his side, the Kosovar Minister of the Interior, Xhelal Svecla, assured that the police found on Friday in the locality of Zvecani (north), where the Serbs are the majority population, a car with numerous weapons, explosives, and ammunition supposedly destined for armed acts against the Kosovar institutions.
According to the RTK portal, Svecla accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic of attempts to destabilize the region, while the head of the Government Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, accused Pristina of "misinformation and deception to cause conflict and trample on any possibility of dialogue and normalization".
Last week the Belgrade government ordered the arrest of three Kosovo policemen, arrests that Pristina considered "kidnappings".
Since then, the Kosovar executive has banned the entry of Serbian goods into the territory.
In this context, the EU demands from Pristina that the mayors hold office in other buildings until new elections are held, in which there is unconditional participation of Serbs.
It also demands the withdrawal of Kosovar special police from the City Halls and the surrounding areas and the simultaneous departure of Serbian demonstrators. Meanwhile, it asks Serbia to release the three Kosovar policemen.
The EU is trying, so far without success, to mediate in a difficult dialogue of normalization between Serbia and its former province, which proclaimed its independence in 2008, without recognition by Belgrade or the international community. (Source: PL)
