In Kosovo, high tension in the north with the Serbian minority

Tensions were high on Sunday (December 11) in northern Kosovo after unidentified people exchanged fire with police officers and threw a stun grenade at EU security forces overnight, amid marked unrest in recent days.

Dozens of Serbs gathered again in the morning at the checkpoints erected the day before and which paralyze traffic at two border crossings between Kosovo and Serbia. Several hours after the roadblocks were put in place, police said they suffered three consecutive gun attacks on Saturday night on one of the roads leading to the border.

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“Police units, in a self-defense situation, were forced to respond with weapons to individuals and criminal groups, who were pushed back and left in an unknown direction”according to a police statement.

European Union police deployed to the region as part of the EULEX mission said they were also targeted by a stun grenade, which caused no injuries among their ranks. “This attack, like those against members of the Kosovo police, is unacceptable”EULEX added in a statement.

Protesters from Kosovo’s Serb minority are outraged by the arrest of an ethnic Serb former policeman suspected of involvement in attacks on Kosovo police, according to local media.

Postpone local elections

Trucks, ambulances and agricultural machinery were set up over the weekend to block traffic, amid tensions marked in recent days by explosions, shootings and an attack on a police patrol. A Kosovar Albanian policeman was injured in Thursday’s attack.

The latest tensions erupted after the decision by the Kosovar authorities to organize local elections on 18 December in the Serb-majority municipalities which the main Serbian political parties announced their intention to boycott. Explosions and gunfire were heard on Thursday as election officials visited two municipalities in northern Kosovo to prepare for the polls, but no injuries were reported.

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Shortly after the barricades were erected, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani announced that she had decided to postpone local elections to April 23. The embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and the United States, as well as the EU representation, welcomed this postponement, considering it a “constructive decision” to pour “promote efforts to achieve a safer situation in the north”.

A wave of resignations

The attack in which the policeman was injured on Thursday came after the deployment of Kosovar Albanian policemen in northern Kosovo. According to the government, this deployment was decided after the collective resignations of Serbs working in public institutions, including the police. Members of the Serbian security forces had resigned in protest against the decision of the Kosovar authorities to replace the plates issued by Belgrade with those issued by Pristina. Hundreds of policemen, judges, prosecutors and other officials have also left their posts, prompting a breakdown in the rule of law that raises fears of rising tensions.

Serbian protesters had already blocked traffic at the two main border crossings between Kosovo and Serbia in September, to express their anger at the license plates.

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The Serbian minority in Kosovo, which has a total of about 120,000 members, refuses loyalty to Pristina with the encouragement of Belgrade, which does not recognize the independence of Kosovo proclaimed in 2008.

Pristina and Belgrade exchanged accusations after the latest round of incidents. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said he will ask NATO forces to allow the deployment of Serbian police and army in Kosovo, while acknowledging that there has been no “no chance this request will be approved”. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for his part accused Serbia of “threatening Kosovo with aggression”.