Riots in Kosovo: Prime Minister Kurti wants to calm the situation

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Against the backdrop of recent riots in the north of his country, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti (48) has raised the issue of new elections. “The withdrawal of violent gangs in front of city offices is the path to de-escalation until new elections,” Kurti wrote on Twitter late Thursday night.

After the election of new mayors, protests broke out in three of the four Serb-majority communities. Militant Serbs on Monday attacked NATO peacekeepers with firebombs and stones in the village of Zvecan. 30 Italian and Hungarian soldiers and more than 50 Serbs were wounded. Politicians of Albanian descent had gained the upper hand in by-elections, which the Serbs boycotted at the behest of the government in Belgrade.

Macron and Scholz get involved

Kosovo, now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, declared independence in 2008. To this day, Serbia has not recognized this move and is demanding the return of its former province. In an area in the north, which borders directly on Serbia, almost exclusively Serbs live.

French President Emmanuel Macron (45) said on Thursday evening after mediation talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (64) that they had called for new elections to be organized as soon as possible in the four communities in northern Kosovo. The Serbs there should also participate. At the same time, the question of establishing an association of Serb-majority municipalities should be resolved immediately and as a matter of priority by Kosovo. Scholz and Macron had held talks on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Moldova to mitigate the renewed escalation of the conflict. (SDA)

Source: Blick