The demonstrators had tried to prevent the mayor, who was elected by the Kosovo Serb boycott, from entering the city hall.
Serbia put his army on alert and move closer to the Kosovo border on Friday after Kosovo police clashed violently with protesters. Reuters and AFP reported on the heating up of the situation.
The clashes took place in the Serb-dominated town of Zveçan and injured at least ten protesters and five police officers. The police used tear gas against the crowd to disperse it.
Picket had tried to prevent the newly elected mayor from entering the city hall.
Only 3.5 percent of eligible voters voted in the elections. Serbs boycotted the vote because they criticized the parties as being of Albanian origin.
The police cleared the way to the town hall by force. According to the police, the protesters, among other things, threw stones at the police and at least one police vehicle was set on fire.
About 50,000 Serbs live in and around the city. The Serbian region has sought autonomous status.
Serbia has relied on raising the alert status of his army repeatedly, for example last December, reports AFP.
Minister of Defense of Serbia Miloš Vučević called the actions of the Kosovo police on live television “blatant terrorism against the Kosovo Serb community”.
Kosovo, on the other hand, accused Serbia of inciting the clashes.
“Serbia bears full responsibility for the escalation of the situation,” the head of the presidential office Blerim Vela said in the chancellery’s press release.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned in a published Friday evening in taking a stand Actions by the Kosovo Police Force. According to the United States, the police’s actions were against the advice of the United States and Kosovo’s European partners and undermine efforts to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The United States also said the actions would have an impact on relations between it and Kosovo.
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