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Belgrade and Pristina quarrel with each other after injuring several people in the violent clashes in northern Kosovo.
According to local officials, several Kosovo police officers and Serb civilians were injured in clashes that broke out during a raid on suspected smugglers in Kosovo’s volatile areas.
The Kosovo police said in a statement that on Wednesday, the police encountered resistance in Mitrovica in the north as they carried out seizures of illegal goods in several towns. The area is mainly inhabited by the Serb minority in Kosovo.
The police statement stated that “criminal gangs” used cars to block roads, used stun bombs, grenades and shots to “obstruct and attack” the police. It stated that six officers were injured and eight Serbs were arrested.
Serbian National Television showed people escaping from tear gas and a car caught fire. It said several people were injured.
The Kosovo online news portal quoted Zlatan Elek, the director of a hospital in Mitrovica, as saying that one person was seriously injured by a gun.
“He is in the intensive care unit in a serious condition,” Elek said.
‘Edge of chaos’
The violence occurred after a border dispute between Serbia and Kosovo over license plates last month.
This caused an angry response from Belgrade. Serbian Prime Minister Anna Brnabic called on NATO, which has 3,000 peacekeepers in Kosovo, to restore order and prevent “chaos” in the region.
In a statement, Burnabic said: “This is the last moment when a clear response is needed to stop Pristina’s crazy policy.” “This behavior… brings us to the brink of chaos.”
However, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that the authorities will continue to “attack and prevent smuggling.”
“Crime and criminal groups will not be tolerated,” Kurti wrote on his Facebook page.
He called on the Serbs in Kosovo to reject some Serb media’s claims that the police raid was a racial issue.
EU foreign policy chief Jose Puborel said that Brussels is in contact with Belgrade and Pristina.
“Unilateral and uncoordinated actions that endanger stability are unacceptable,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that “all outstanding issues must be resolved through dialogue promoted by the EU.”
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but some of the approximately 50,000 Serbs remaining in the north of the country refused to recognize the Pristina authorities and consider Belgrade as their capital.
With the support of its allies Russia and China, Serbia does not recognize the status of its former provinces, but most Western countries including the United States do.
So far, EU mediation negotiations aimed at resolving the deadlock have failed to normalize relations between Pristina and Belgrade.
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