The violence was the latest incident when tensions soared over the past weekend when ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo tried to block newly elected ethnic Albanian officials from entering municipal buildings. Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and allow the new officials to enter the offices. Serbia put the country’s army on high alert and sent more troops to the Kosovo border.
Kosovo and Serbia have been enemies for decades and Belgrade refused to recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty in 2008.
The United States and the European Union have stepped up their efforts to help resolve the dispute between Kosovo and Serbia, fearing further instability in Europe as Russia’s war continues in Ukraine. The EU has made it clear to both Serbia and Kosovo that they must normalize relations if they are to make any progress towards joining the bloc.
The Western ambassadors of the so-called Quint (France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States) met in Pristina with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and asked him to take measures to reduce tension and reduce tensions, while strongly denouncing that Serbs violence against KFOR troops and journalists.
“Ultranationalist Serb graffiti on NATO vehicles is a dark reminder in Kosovo. We stand for peace and security,” Kurti said after the meeting.
Quint’s ambassadors will meet with Vucic, and he will also meet with the Russian and Chinese ambassadors to show he has support for their policies.
Ethnic Serbs in Zvecan, Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Mitrovica, four municipalities in the north, held elections last month that were largely boycotted by ethnic Serbs. Only representatives of ethnic Albanians or other smaller minorities were elected to mayoral positions and assemblies.
The conflict in Kosovo erupted in 1998 when ethnic Albanian separatists rebelled against the Serbian government, and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. Some 13,000 people died, mostly ethnic Albanians. NATO military intervention in 1999 finally forced Serbia to withdraw from the territory. Washington and most EU countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent state, but Serbia, Russia and China have not.