Balkans | Police injured in an attack on security forces in Kosovo

It was reported that a police officer was injured in the attack on security forces in the village of Serpović in Zvecan municipality in Kosovo.

A statement from the Kosovo police said that gunmen attacked the police with long-barreled guns.

The statement said: “As a result of the accident, a Kosovo police officer was slightly injured. The police vehicle was seriously damaged. Relevant police units have arrived at the scene for investigation.” expressions were used.

It was reported that the injured policeman was taken to hospital.

It was reported that the attack came two hours after the Kosovo police announced last night an increased presence of security forces in the Serb-populated areas in the north of the country.

The President stated that Serbia had organized the events.

Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Chilal Svichla, stated in a statement yesterday the need to increase the police presence in order to ensure security due to the successive armed attacks against police officers and citizens in the north of the country in recent days.

Kosovo President Fyuza Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that the events in the north were organized by Serbia.

Osmani told reporters yesterday that whenever Kosovo and Serbia are close to reaching a final agreement, Serbia is trying to create a crisis in the north of the country by using the Kosovo Serbs.

Explosions in northern Kosovo

Ahead of early local elections in 4 municipalities in northern Kosovo on December 18, explosions and sirens were heard in some cities in the north on December 6.

The presence of EULEX forces on the Iberian bridge linking the southern and northern sides of the city of Mitrovica increased.

Officials from the Kosovo Central Election Commission (KQZ) went to their offices in the north, escorted by the Kosovo Police, but were unable to enter.

According to the Kosovo Police statement, stun grenades, grenades and firearms were used in the explosions, which continued on 7 December. While there were no injuries in the incidents, the offices of the Municipal Elections Commission were damaged.

– Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia

The Government of Kosovo, in line with the principle of reciprocity with Serbia at the end of July, on the issue of “issuing temporary permit forms to those entering/exiting Kosovo with Serbian identity cards” and “converting license plates issued by the Serbian authorities to Serbs in Kosovo to ‘RKS’ (Republic of Kosovo) registration plates”. Announce that the decisions will come into force.

The Serbs in Kosovo reacted to this and closed the border crossings in the north of the country, and tensions rose in the country.

The Kosovo government decided to postpone the implementation, which caused the crisis, until September 1, on the condition that all barriers placed on the roads leading to the border gates with Serbia be removed.

Finally, the Kosovo side stated that the process of re-registering license plates, which they described as “illegal”, has been postponed to April 2023, and that owners of such vehicles will first be warned, then fined, and finally be placed.

The two sides reached an agreement on November 23, mediated by the European Union, to de-escalate tensions and move toward normalizing relations.

Serbia considers Kosovo, which unilaterally declared its independence in 2008, to be its territory.

The Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue process, initiated in 2011 with the mediation of the European Union, aims to normalize relations and eventual recognition of each other between the two countries.

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