WORLD NEWS | 25 NATO-led peacekeepers injured in clashes with Serbs outside municipal building in Kosovo

Zvecan (Kosovo), May 30 (AP) — NATO-led peacekeepers said Monday they clashed with Serbs in northern Kosovo after they tried to take over an office in one of the cities where ethnic Albanians live, killing 25 people. Soldiers were wounded. The mayors took office last week.

Serbs clashed with NATO troops and Kosovo police in the city of Zvecan, 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of the capital. Soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades to protect Kosovar officers and disperse protesters, according to witnesses. The assembled Serbs responded by throwing rocks and other hard objects at them.

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“Several soldiers of the Italian and Hungarian KFOR contingents were attacked unprovoked and suffered injuries, fractures and burns from an incendiary device explosion,” the NATO peacekeeping force said in a statement.

A number of Kosovo police cars and a vehicle belonging to journalists were damaged and spray-painted with Serbian nationalist symbols.

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Speaking to the nation late Monday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said he would spend the night at the border with Kosovo with his troops, who were on maximum alert under his order last week. He said 52 Serbs were injured in the clashes, three of them seriously, and four were detained.

“The consequences (of the conflict) are huge and serious, and the sole culprit is (Kosovo Prime Minister) Albin Kurti,” Vucic said. He referred to the Albanian army in northern Kosovo as “occupiers”.

“I repeat for the last time, I beg the international community to make sure Albin Kurti understands the reason. If they don’t, it will be too late for all of us,” Vucic said.

The violence was the latest in a spike in tensions over the weekend, with Serbia putting the country’s military on high alert and sending more troops to the border with Kosovo, which declared independence from Belgrade in 2008.

Kosovo and Serbia have been enemies for decades, and Belgrade refuses to recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty.

The United States and the European Union have stepped up efforts to help resolve the Kosovo-Serbia dispute, fearing further instability in Europe as Russia’s war in Ukraine rages on. The EU has made it clear to Serbia and Kosovo that relations must be normalized if they want to make any progress towards EU membership.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the situation in Kosovo “worrying” and accused the United States and NATO of claiming dominance in the region.

“A big explosion is brewing in the middle of Europe, right where NATO invaded Yugoslavia in 1999,” he said in Nairobi, Kenya, referring to the 1999 NATO-led intervention that prevented a bloody Serb crackdown. Albanian separatists.

Kosovo police and the NATO-led KFOR (KFOR) were seen on Monday protecting municipal buildings in the four northern cities of Zvecan, Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Mitrovica, where snap elections were held last month.

Those votes were largely boycotted by the Serb majority in those areas. Only representatives of ethnic Albanians or other smaller minorities are elected to mayoral positions and parliaments.

Serbia’s prime minister, Ana Brnabic, criticized the international handling of events in Kosovo, saying KFOR “is not protecting the people…they are protecting the usurper”, apparently referring to the new mayor.

“But we have to protect the peace. Peace is all we have,” she said.

KFOR increased its presence in four northern cities. It called on all parties to refrain from actions that could escalate the situation and urged “Belgrade and Pristina to engage in EU-led dialogue”.

U.S. Ambassador Jeff Hownier met with President Vijosa Osmani before meeting with Prime Minister Albin along with ambassadors from other Western powers – the Quintuplet ambassadors from the United States, France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom Kurti, urging him to take steps to de-escalate the situation and reduce tension.

Serbs in northern Kosovo tried to prevent newly elected ethnic Albanian officials from entering municipal buildings on Friday. Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse crowds and let new officials into their offices.

The United States and the European Union have condemned Kosovo’s government for using police to force their way into municipal buildings.

The conflict in Kosovo erupted in 1998 when separatist ethnic Albanians rebelled against Serbian rule, and Serbia responded with brutal repression. Some 13,000 people died, most of them ethnic Albanians. NATO’s 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. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)