By Misha Savic and Jasmina Kuzmanovic
Kosovo’s government rejected a demand from Serbia that it withdraw new mayors who were elected in a disputed ballot, deepening a standoff that triggered violence between protesters and NATO peacekeepers.
Ethnic Serb protesters clashed with NATO-led peacekeepers in northern Kosovo Monday, injuring 30 Hungarian and Italian soldiers after pelting them with projectiles that included incendiary devices, according to the force, known as KFOR. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said more than 50 Serbs were injured.
At the heart of the flareup is an April election that Kosovar Serbs — backed by Vucic — boycotted. The result was victory for ethnic-Albanian candidates that Serbs reject.
Vucic called for “fake” mayors to stop trying to take their positions and for police to withdraw from the area, saying it “is a condition for preserving peace.”
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government rejected the demand.
“The mayors will continue to be mayors,” government spokesman Perparim Kryeziu said by phone. “The current mayors are the only ones with legitimacy to be in their offices.”
Kryeziu blamed the boycott on “political motives” and said Pristina understands the officials are “mayors with a small m,” due to extremely low turnout of about 3%.
While ethnic Serbs make up only about 5% of predominantly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo’s 1.8 million people, they dominate a few northern towns next to the border with Serbia.
The escalation in violence essentially torpedoes US-backed, European Union-led negotiations aimed at fixing ties between Kosovo and Serbia, which refuses to accept its neighbour’s 2008 declaration of independence.
