Kosovo’s government accused opposition leaders of trying to seize power using violence after protest clashes in Pristina that left over 170 people injured, while the opposition blamed the police.
Government and opposition have blamed each other for six hours of unrest near the government building during protests in central Pristina on Tuesday which resulted in 120 arrests.
Pristina’s main hospital said that 107 policemen, 53 protesters and 10 others were injured amid violent scenes which saw demonstrators throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at riot police, who fired rounds of tear gas and used water cannon in a bid to quell the unrest.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and his deputy, Hashim Thaci, alleged that the opposition parties who organised the protest were trying to seize power.
“The government of the Republic of Kosovo believes that protests should not be used to achieve ambitions for power, because power is gained only through a free vote by the citizens of Kosovo, not by force and through violence,” Mustafa said.
He claimed that the protesters, who were demanding the dismissal of Kosovo Serb minister Aleksandar Jablanovic, who is accused of insulting ethnic Albanian war victims, were being manipulated by the opposition.
“The government condemns the use of the protesters and students at the protest for the organisers’ political ends,” he said.
But Albin Kurti, the leader of the Vetevendosje (Self Determination) movement, which called the rally alongside other opposition parties, insisted that the protest was peaceful until police intervened and caused the violence.
Kurti said that the opposition would not give up its demand for the resignation of Communities and Returns Minister Jablanovic, who caused anger earlier this month when he called Albanians who blockaded Serb pilgrims visiting a church in the town of Gjakova/Djakovica at Orthodox Christmas “savages”.
“The protests will continue with same requests. It’s a matter of days, not weeks or months, until the next protest will be held,” Kurti told a press conference.
The opposition parties have two demands: for the sacking of Jablanovic, and for the huge Trepca mine complex, the subject of dispute between Pristina and Belgrade, to be taken under Kosovo state control.
Opposition parties were infuriated when the government withdrew part of a draft law, which was intended to transform Trepca into a public enterprise, from parliament on January 19.
Ramush Haradinaj, the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) opposition party, which was also involved in Tuesday’s protest, also insisted that demonstrations would continue.
“People will not stop protesting until their citizens’ rights are fulfilled,” Haradinaj said on his Facebook page.
The US ambassador to Pristina, Tracey Ann Jacobson, said that public protest was a democratic right but condemned the violence.
“Destruction of public and private property is a criminal act,” Jacobson wrote on Twitter.
The OSCE Mission to Kosovo also expressed concern about the unrest.
“People have the right to protest, but they should express their grievances peacefully. Violence is not the answer,” said OSCE ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger.
