Dozens of NATO troops yesterday secured a municipal building in the Kosovo town of Zvecan, a day after 30 NATO soldiers and 52 Serb protesters were injured in clashes that EU and NATO officials said were unacceptable as they urged calm.
Kosovar police said in a statement that the situation is “fragile, but calm.”
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell urged the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to immediately de-escalate tensions, after “absolutely unacceptable” clashes in northern Kosovo.
Photo: Reuters
Borrell said he had spoken to Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Alexander Vucic to tell them to avoid any “further unilateral action.”
“I asked both parties to urgently take measures to de-escalate tensions immediately and unconditionally,” he said.
Borrell said Kosovar authorities needed to suspend police operations focused on municipal buildings in north Kosovo and ethnic Serb protesters should stand down.
Photo: Reuters
He said the EU was “discussing possible measures to be taken if the parties continue to resist proposed steps towards de-escalation.”
Russia said “decisive steps” were needed to de-escalate tensions in Kosovo.
“We call on the West to finally silence its false propaganda and stop blaming incidents in Kosovo on Serbs driven to despair, who are peaceful, unarmed, trying to defend their legitimate rights and freedoms,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Unrest in the region has intensified since ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo’s Serb-majority area after last month’s April elections the Serbs boycotted, a move that led the US and its allies to rebuke Pristina on Friday.
The area’s majority Serbs have never accepted Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, and consider Belgrade 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 last month and ethnic Albanian candidates won the mayoralties in four Serb-majority municipalities — including North Mitrovica — with a 3.5 percent turnout.
Several ethnic Serbs gathered in front of the building in Zvecan, but the situation was calm, a Reuters reporter said, as soldiers from the US, Italy and Poland stood by in anti-riot gear.
A Kosovar police source who asked not to be named said that bulldozers were heading north, ready to remove any barricades set by Serbs.
Additional reporting by AFP
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force
RSS