KFOR soldiers also affected: injured in violence by Serb protesters

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Riots in Kosovo have injured dozens, including soldiers from the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR). According to NATO, 25 Italian and Hungarian KFOR soldiers suffered injuries, some seriously, on Monday when they confronted Serb protesters who wanted to storm the city government in Zvecan in northern Kosovo. In addition to NATO, Rome and Berlin also condemned the riots and called for restraint on all sides.

“Several soldiers of the Italian and Hungarian KFOR contingent were attacked for no reason and suffered injuries with broken bones and burns from the detonation of incendiary bombs,” KFOR said Monday evening. She condemned the attacks on her troops as “completely unacceptable”. KFOR commander Angelo Michele Ristuccia said his force would “continue to carry out its mandate impartially”.

Ten seriously wounded soldiers

Hungary’s Defense Ministry said more than 20 Hungarian KFOR soldiers were injured, seven of them seriously. According to Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, a total of eleven Italian KFOR soldiers were injured, three of them seriously. Prime Minister Gioriga Meloni said further attacks on KFOR “will not be tolerated”. The foreign ministry in Berlin called for an “immediate halt” to the violence.

A Serb was injured by gunfire, the hospital in the nearby town of Mitrovica said. Another 52 Serbs were hospitalized there with injuries, the hospital said. The Serbian demonstrators tried to break into the town hall in Zvecan. Kosovan police then used tear gas. KFOR soldiers intervened and positioned themselves between the police and the demonstrators with protective shields and batons. As an AFP reporter noted, the soldiers were then attacked by the protesters with stones and petrol bombs.

Serbs boycott elections

The demonstrators are demanding the withdrawal of Kosovo’s security forces from the region. They are also demanding the resignation of mayors from the ethnic Albanian population in the region, which is largely inhabited by ethnic Serbs.

The police had escorted the new mayor, an Albanian who wanted to take office. Serbs are also protesting in two other places in northern Kosovo, where Albanian mayors have also taken over. The three were elected in April, with almost all Serbs boycotting the election. That is why the election winners come from Albanian parties. The previous Serbian mayors resigned from their positions in November 2022 in protest against the Kosovo government’s policies.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti installed the mayors last week, defying EU and US demands.

Vucic put the army on edge

Last Friday there were already fierce protests against the takeover of mayoral offices by ethnic Albanians and confrontations with the security forces. The police also used tear gas. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic then put the army on “high alert” and sent soldiers to the Kosovo border.

Kosovo, a country of 1.8 million people, the majority of whom are ethnic Albanians, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade still considers it a Serbian province to this day. About 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo.

(AFP)

Source: Blick