25 KFOR soldiers were injured by the attacks of violent Serbian protesters gathered in front of the building of the Municipality of Zveçan. The KFOR mission commander, General Angelo Michele Ristuccia, has said that unprovoked attacks are unacceptable, and they have been condemned by representatives of embassies and other international and national institutions. The soldiers of the Italian and Hungarian contingent suffered the most from the brutality of the protesters. Protests, to oppose the newly elected mayors of the municipalities, were also organized in Zubin-Potok and Leposavić on Monday.
Twenty-five KFOR soldiers were injured on Monday by the attacks of Serbian protesters in Zveçan, who threw Molotov cocktails, stun grenades, stones and other strong tools at them.
The mission of the North Atlantic Alliance in Kosovo has announced that its units have been deployed in the four municipalities with a Serbian majority in the north to curb violent demonstrations that were organized to oppose the newly elected mayors of the municipalities to exercise their duties in the buildings of municipal assemblies. According to the announcement of KFOR, the target of the unprovoked attacks were the soldiers of the Italian and Hungarian contingent. It is known that the soldiers suffered fractures in different parts of the body and received burns from the explosion of incendiary devices.
"The commander of the KFOR mission, Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia, is personally following the development of the situation and expresses his regret for the men and women of the mission injured during the clashes. He emphasized that unprovoked attacks on NATO units are unacceptable and KFOR will continue to fulfill its mandate in an impartial manner", KFOR told TIME.
The Foreign Minister of Italy, Antonio Tajani, also reacted to the attacks. He has confirmed that 11 KFOR soldiers were injured in the north of Kosovo, three of whom are in a serious condition, but out of danger for life.
"I want to express my solidarity with the soldiers of the KFOR mission, who were injured in Kosovo during the clashes between Serbian demonstrators and the Kosovo Police. Among them 11 Italians, 3 of whom are in serious condition, but out of danger for life. The Italian army continues to work for peace", he wrote on Twitter.
The police say that there were also gunshots from the protesters
The Kosovo Police has also announced the violent actions of the protesters. Five protesters are reported to have been arrested on suspicion of injuring several KFOR officials.
"Protesters in Zveçan have not followed the official orders to leave, but have resisted and started throwing various tools, molotov cocktails, stun grenades, explosive devices, and gunshots have been heard. As a result of the unbridled violence so far, several KFOR officials have been injured, as well as so far five suspects have been arrested, who have used attacks and violence against them", says the KP announcement. .
It is also known that a police car was burnt and several other cars were damaged.
According to the announcement of the KP, from the three northern municipalities where the non-peaceful protests are continuing, the protesters have continuously provoked the situation, shown violence, have thrown various objects at the police officers, have placed and written provocative inscriptions with Serbian and Russian symbols. in the police and KFOR vehicles, as well as damaged the tires and other parts of the vehicles.
Journalists from various media were also hindered and endangered by masked protesters, whose vehicles were damaged, one of them was burned, and Serbian nationalist inscriptions were also written on them. As far as possible, the KP has provided security to the media-journalists by moving them to the security perimeter", the announcement further states.
Furthermore, it is known that alarms have been continuously issued in the northern municipalities in order to remobilize them, while it has been added that the authorities are continuously coordinating with KFOR for managing the situation.
"Until now, even in Leposavic, protesters have thrown various objects and firecrackers at officials and police vehicles. The Kosovo Police has continuously coordinated with KFOR to manage the situation. KFOR was forced to act after the violence of the protesters put the lives of officials at risk, damaged vehicles and public property. The Kosovo Police continues to manage the situation in coordination with KFOR and has begun intensive investigations, related to the violence and attacks caused to the media, members of KFOR and the Police", the announcement states.
KFOR has tried to avoid the clash, the Serbian List has rejected its demands
The protests in front of the buildings of municipalities with a Serbian majority had been warned in advance. In order to avoid violent entry into them, KFOR soldiers units were deployed in the morning hours. A wire fence was placed along the perimeter of the Municipality building in Zveçan. The protesters gathered in front of the Municipality of Zvečani placed the flag of Serbia on an armored vehicle of the Special Unit of the Kosovo Police, while on another they spray-painted four "C's" and Russian symbols. It was also spray-painted on a KFOR armored car.
The Kosovo Police, for security reasons, decided to evacuate the journalists, bringing them inside the facility of the Municipality of Zveçan. Many members of the Special Unit of the Kosovo Police were also inside.
A crowd of citizens had already gathered in front of this municipality, including the chairman of the Serbian List, Goran Rakic, and the vice-chairman, Igor Simic.
In order to avoid incidents, representatives of KFOR and the Police talked with the officials of the Serbian List in the morning.
The leader of the KFOR unit, which took care of the security in front of the Municipality of Zveçan, has agreed with the chairman of the Serbian List, Goran Rakić, to leave the two armored cars of the Special Police unit. But the protesters have not cleared the road. Rakiq asked the citizens to stay there until the Special Police Unit leaves and the new mayor, Izmir Zeqiri, is not allowed to enter the facility of the Municipality of Zveçan.
"This is the facility of the Municipality, the facility of the citizens, where our families work and we will stay here. Those who are unwanted should be removed. If you want to leave, we will create space for you to leave", said the president of the Serbian List, Goran Rakic, to the KFOR representatives.
The KFOR negotiator also asked why people wear masks, while the vice president of the Serbian List, Igor Simic, explained that the reason for this is the fear that the police may arrest them tomorrow, as happened before.
KFOR, its negotiator said, will understand it as a sign of good will if the citizens withdraw to drive away a vehicle of the Special Unit of the Kosovo Police, which will replace the KFOR vehicle. The KFOR negotiator has also clarified that they cannot influence the decision of the Government of Kosovo, for the newly elected presidents to come to their workplaces. It has shown that the discussions are taking place at the highest level, and that it is in the interest of KFOR that incidents do not occur.
Since the negotiations did not yield results, around 16:30 p.m., KFOR members asked the protesters to leave the two armored vehicles of the Kosovo Police, which were stuck in the middle of the crowd, but they refused. To disperse them, KFOR fired tear gas, and after that the protesters responded by throwing stun grenades and Molotov cocktails at KFOR members. As a result, a Kosovo Police car was burned and gunshots were heard.
An ambulance vehicle was also seen in Zveçan after the attacks of protesters against KFOR soldiers. During this confrontation, according to the footage that appeared in the media, several members of KFOR were injured. They are seen being attracted by their colleagues. After this confrontation, the protesters have left and are staying further away from the Municipality facility. During this bloody clash, a number of journalists were trapped in one of the nearby bars, where they stayed for several hours.
Less tension in Leposavic and Zubin-Potok than in Zveçan
In Leposavic, the protesters, although not as violent as in Zveçan, did not disperse until the evening hours. With nationalist calls and insults to KFOR members and journalists who are following the developments there, they stood in front of the Municipality building. Protesters have not responded to KFOR's calls to disperse peacefully.
Some Serbian protestors have come to the Municipality with diapers in hand, saying that they are a gift for the new Mayor of the Municipality. They have insisted to enter the Municipality or to be handed a "gift", but KFOR representatives have not accepted this. Afterwards, the protesters threw "diapers" at the KFOR soldiers and eggs at the official vehicles.
KFOR and the Police have made sure that the new mayor of Zubin-Potoku, Izmir Zeqiri, is not hindered either. Çaber village, where Zeqiri comes from, was patrolled by numerous KFOR and Kosovo Police forces in the early hours of Monday morning. The road from this village to the municipal facility was managed by KFOR soldiers in every corner. In front of the building of the Municipality stood several policemen with shields. Their number was several times greater inside the Municipality building, which the Kosovo Police has transformed into a station. However, when the alarm was sounded, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Municipality. From time to time they provoked the policemen who were taking care of the Municipality building, but there were no clashes. In the second part of the day, the protesters were fewer in number. During the day, nationalist songs were sung in front of the police. They also directed verbal insults at the media.
After taking the decision to stop the protest and continue the same, the protestors on their way set fire to the car of TÜVE-1. The vehicle was a few meters close to the armored vehicles of KFOR.
Violent attacks by protesters against KFOR have been condemned by international and national representatives.
The new presidents, Izmir Zeqiri of Zubin-Potoku, Ilir Peci of Zveçani and Lulzim Hetemi of Leposaviq, took the oath in their positions on May 25. While the mayor of North Mitrovica, Erden Atiq, was sworn in on May 19. They won in April's extraordinary elections, which were boycotted by the majority of Serbs. The elections were also contested by the government of Serbia, which has encouraged the local Serbs not to recognize the new municipal leaders.
