Local elections originally scheduled for December 18-25 in northern Kosovo have been postponed to April 23, 2023 due to rising ethnic tensions. President Vjosa Osmani (40) announced this on Saturday after consultations with the political parties and security forces in Pristina.
At the same time, in the northern region, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic Serbs, there were roadblocks and gun battles with the police. Initially no one was injured. The officers were shot at by three different groups at the Bernjak border crossing, police said.
Two border crossings into Serbia were closed due to roadblocks. “Extremist groups” had set up barricades in the cities of Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok, Interior Minister Xhlelal Zvecla (52) writes on Facebook. The roadblocks protest the arrest of an ethnic Serb held responsible for attacks on a planned polling station.
Kosovo speaks of threats from Serbia
In neighboring Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic (52) disapproved of this arrest and announced that he would request the Kosovo Protection Force KFOR to transfer up to 1,000 Serbian soldiers and police officers to Kosovo. However, he does not expect this to be approved, Vucic added.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, 47, responded by saying: “Serbia has been threatening Kosovo with aggression for several days now. The President and Prime Minister of Serbia are demanding the return of the Serbian army to Kosovo,” he wrote on Facebook. “We don’t want conflict, we want peace and progress. But we will respond to aggression with all the might we have,” Kurti added.
Troubled small Balkan country
To this day, Serbia is not ready to recognize the state of Kosovo, which has existed since 2008. The small Balkan country is now inhabited almost exclusively by Albanians. In the enclave of North Mitrovica, which borders directly on Serbia, Belgrade operates its own power structures, which rely on militant activists and criminals. These repeatedly place roadblocks and initiate violent incidents.
Municipal elections were called for in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo because the local Serbian mayors and municipal representatives had resigned. With this they had protested against the now suspended license plate scheme of the government in Pristina. With the license plate scheme, Pristina wanted to ensure that ethnic Serbs from Kosovo no longer register their vehicles with the Serbian authorities and instead apply for a Kosovo license plate.
Militant Serbs
In the postponement of the elections, Osmani referred to analyzes by the police and the secret services of the dangerous situation. In the night from Friday to Friday, Serb militants fired on a Kosovo police patrol in Zvecan municipality. A police officer was slightly injured and the officer’s car was heavily damaged.
On Tuesday, militant Serbs also fired into the air at election workers and police officers preparing for the elections. The ethnic Serb, a former Kosovo police officer, who was arrested on Saturday, was behind this action.
As a result, the Kosovo Police reinforced its forces in the northern part of the divided city of Mitrovica. An additional 300 police officers took up positions in Albanian and Bosniak-populated districts in the otherwise predominantly Serb half of the city. (SDA/kes)