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NATO soldiers guard Kosovo towns in stand-off with Serb protesters

Serbs in northern Kosovo try to take over the local government buildings as Albanian mayors were elected in recent local elections which Serbs refused to take part in.

Reuters

Kosova police and NATO forces were seen protecting the municipality building in Zvecan, one of the four communes to hold snap election last month that was largely boycotted by Serbs [Photo: Reuters]

NATO peacekeeping soldiers have formed security cordons around three town halls in Kosovo to keep back Serbs protesting at ethnic Albanian mayors taking office in a Serb majority area after elections they boycotted.

In Zvecan, one of the towns, Kosovo state police - staffed entirely by ethnic Albanians after all Serbs quit the force last year - sprayed pepper gas to repel a crowd of Serbs who broke through a security barricade and tried to force their way into the municipality building, witnesses said.

In Leposavic, close to the border with Serbia, US peacekeeping troops in anti-riot gear placed barbed wire around the municipality building to protect it from hundreds of angry Serbs gathering nearby.

NATO peacekeepers also blocked off the town hall in Zubin Potok to protect it from angry local Serbs, witnesses said.

Spoke to HR/VP @JosepBorrellF about #Kosovo. Pristina & Belgrade must engage in the EU-led dialogue now, as the only way to peace & normalisation. Pristina must de-escalate & not take unilateral, destabilising steps. @NATO_KFOR will continue to ensure a safe & secure environment.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) May 28, 2023

Serbs, who form a majority in Kosovo's north, have never accepted its 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and still see Belgrade as their capital more than two decades after the Kosovo Albanian uprising against repressive Serbian rule.

Ethnic Albanians make up more than 90 percent of the population in Kosovo as a whole, but northern Serbs have long demanded the implementation of an EU-brokered 2013 deal for the creation of an association of autonomous municipalities in their area.

Serbs refused to take part in local elections in April and ethnic Albanian candidates won the mayoralties in four Serb-majority municipalities - including North Mitrovica, where no incidents were reported on Monday - with a 3.5% turnout.

Serbs demand that the Kosovo government remove ethnic Albanian mayors from town halls and allow local administrations financed by Belgrade return to their duties.

On Friday, three out of four mayors were escorted into their offices by police, who were pelted with rocks and responded with tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters.

Serbia troops on high alert on border with Kosovo following clashes

On Sunday NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on the Kosovo government to tone down tensions with Serbia. "Pristina must de-escalate & not take unilateral, destabilising steps," Stoltenberg said in a tweet.

Following a phone call with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti tweeted: "Emphasized that elected mayors will provide services to all citizens".

NATO peacekeepers were deployed in Kosovo after the 1999 NATO bombing campaign that drove the Serbian military and security police out of Kosovo, ending a brutal counter-insurgency campaign.