Tension on Kosovo

Belgrade, June, 02. 2010 (Serbia Today) While Serbs were voting on Sundays (May 30) in local elections in Kosovska Mitrovica and Novo Brdo, stones were being thrown across the bridge that separates northern and southern Kosovska Mitrovica. Acording to media reports KPS, KFOR and EULEX forces in the region stopped the conflicts between Serbs and Albanians from escalating. The conflict began on the main bridge across the Ibar River, where EULEX police were stationed. Two persons suffered light injuries, said reports from the ethnically divided town. Before the incidents occurred, there were some 2,000 ethnic Albanians protesting the Serb elections in the north on the southern side of the bridge, calling for a “defense of Kosovo’s sovereignty.” The Albanians later moved towards the bridge, where local Serbs were gathering. Stones and rocks started flying from each side shortly after. Serbs were voting today in local election in Kosovska Mitrovica and Novo Brdo. Protests by former so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, members and the Movement for Unity were being held in the southern part of Mitrovica against the elections, which were organized by the government in Belgrade.  There were 13 lists participating in Mitrovica and four in Novo Brdo. In central Serbia, displaced persons in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kraljevo, Kragujevac and Niš were able to vote as well. The Serbian government dissolved the local governments in Kosovska Mitrovica and Novo Brdo on December 24, 2009, and established a temporary administration in the municipalities. President of the Serbian State Election Commission Veljko Odalović said that the protests today aimed to put pressure on the voters and international community in order to stop the voting. Southern Kosovska Mitrovica Municipal President Avdi Kastrati said that the elections in the northern part of the city were "illegal.” He said that the residents of the northern part of the city need to "turn towards the future and prepare for the elections that would be organized by the Kosovo leadership in September.” The NATO peacekeeping mission KFOR has stated that it would offer protection for all participants in peaceful protests.