NATO soldiers on guard in Kosovo Serb town after clashes

NATO soldiers on guard in Kosovo Serb town after clashes

Following hostilities that EU and NATO authorities deemed inappropriate and urged calm during, dozens of NATO forces secured a municipal building in the Kosovo town of Zvecan on Tuesday. The day before, 30 NATO soldiers and 52 Serb demonstrators had been hurt.

In a statement, the Kosovo police described the situation as "fragile, but calm."

On Tuesday, Russia stated that "decisive steps" were necessary to defuse the tensions in Kosovo.

Russia's foreign ministry urged the West to stop spreading misleading information and stop attributing incidents in Kosovo to peaceful, unarmed Serbs who were seeking to protect their legal rights and freedoms.

Since ethnic Albanian mayors were elected in the Serb-majority territory of northern Kosovo following the elections that the Serbs boycotted in April, there has been an increase in unrest in the area, prompting the U.S. and its allies to criticize Pristina on Friday.

More than 20 years after the Kosovo Albanian struggle against oppressive Serbian authority, the majority Serb population of the region has never recognized Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and still views Belgrade as their capital.

In Kosovo as a whole, ethnic Albanians make up more than 90% of the population, but northern Serbs have long desired the implementation of a 2013 agreement mediated by the EU for the formation of an association of autonomous municipalities in their region.

Because Serbs boycotted the April local elections, ethnic Albanian candidates won the mayoral races in four municipalities with a majority of Serbs, including North Mitrovica, with a 3.5% turnout.

Several ethnic Serbs congregated in front of the structure in Zvecan, but there was no unrest, according to a Reuters reporter, who saw soldiers from the US, Italy, and Poland waiting nearby in anti-riot gear.

Bulldozers were moving north, ready to tear down any barricades erected by Serbs, according to a Kosovo police source who wished to remain unnamed and spoke to Reuters.

Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, is accused by Kosovo's authorities of causing instability. Vucic accuses the Kosovo government of generating issues by appointing new mayors.

Albin Kurti, the prime minister of Kosovo, declared on Twitter late on Monday that fascist violence had no place in a democracy and that there should be no appeal from the vote to bullet.

Reuters