KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - The Serbs in northern Kosovska Mitrovica protested on Monday afternoon over the political provocation by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama who stated in Belgrade earlier in the day that Serbia should recognize Kosovo's independence.

Citizens started gathering near the main bridge over the Ibar River, separating the majority-Serb part from the Albanian part of Kosovska Mitrovica, as soon as the media reported that Rama stated that Kosovo is an independent state, and that this is the reality that cannot be changed.

Protesters gave support to the Serbian government and the policy aimed at keeping the southern province within Serbia.

“Rama used his visit to Belgrade to send an improper message aimed at undermining the sovereignty and integrity of our country. Such a provocation must be condemned in the strongest terms,” Zoran Mojsilovic, a member of the municipal assembly of Northern Mitrovica, said during the protest.

Sergej Zaporozac, who also took part in the protest, told reporters that he protested with his fellow citizens against the statement made by the prime minister of the neighboring state of Albania.

“At the same time, we have given full support to the Serbian government's policy on Kosovo-Metohija and the stands that Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic voiced in Belgrade on Monday after the meeting with Rama,” Zaporozac said.

Protesters, and the cars circling Kosovska Mitrovica in protest, carried the flags of the Republic of Serbia.

City officials, Head of the Kosovska Mitrovica District Vaso Jelic and MP in the Serbian parliament from Kosovska Mitrovica Krstimir Pantic were also seen at the protest.

During the protest, members of Kosovo police and KFOR could be seen at the Ibar bridge.

Kosovo-Metohija has been under the interim administration of the UN since June 1999 and the arrival of the international forces following the NATO aggression on Serbia.

However, the ethnic Albanians declared the unilateral independence of Kosovo on February 17, 2008, with tacit approval and support from the Western powers led by the U.S.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence.