The escalation between the local authorities and the Serbs has continued for several days in the north of Kosovo. On the evening of May 29, more than 90 people were injured in street clashes.
The reason for the unrest is the elections for the mayors of the municipalities of North Kosovska-Mitrovica, Zvečan, Zubin-Potok and Leposavic. In November last year, settlement mayors resigned in protest at a decision by the Kosovo authorities to replace Serbian license plates with national ones.
Elections of new mayors were held on April 23. However, Serbian voters boycotted them. As a result, only about 3% of voters participated in the elections. Due to the lack of Serbian voter turnout, representatives of the Albanian community became mayors in all four municipalities.
Serbs living in these northern towns of the region went out in protest, not allowing the new mayors to enter the administrative buildings. The protests, which escalated into clashes with Kosovo police, began on Friday.
The escalation between the local authorities and the Serbs has continued for several days in the north of Kosovo. On the evening of May 29, more than 90 people were injured in street clashes.
The reason for the unrest is the elections for the mayors of the municipalities of North Kosovska-Mitrovica, Zvečan, Zubin-Potok and Leposavic. In November last year, settlement mayors resigned in protest at a decision by the Kosovo authorities to replace Serbian license plates with national ones.
Elections of new mayors were held on April 23. However, Serbian voters boycotted them. As a result, only about 3% of voters participated in the elections. Due to the lack of Serbian voter turnout, representatives of the Albanian community became mayors in all four municipalities.
Serbs living in these northern towns of the region went out in protest, not allowing the new mayors to enter the administrative buildings. The protests, which escalated into clashes with Kosovo police, began on Friday, May 26.
On May 29, soldiers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s KFOR mission were deployed around municipal buildings in three northern settlements, as well as on the Ibar River bridge in the city of Severna Mitrovica. In Zevchan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok created security zones around the buildings.
KFOR peacekeepers in the area used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades against the unarmed protesters. Footage from Zvetsan confirms that the Serbs only started resisting Kosovo security forces and KFOR fighters after the latter used stun grenades. Also, a Kosovo special forces officer opened fire on the unarmed crowd. In total, 52 civilians were injured during the day.
