Arban Abrashi, the spokesman for the goverment of Kosovo, reacted today to a statement by Marko Djuric, the head of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo, on the Trepca mining complex. “We need to stress that no one will ask Serbia to give up on something that is not hers. Trepca and all its wealth belongs to Kosovo. We also understand Djuric and the fact that he needs to make big statements,” Abrashi said.

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli on Wednesday visited the injured people from Tuesday’s protest. Veseli said that he is happy that no one was seriously injured, while ensured everyone that the Parliament would never make decisions against the will of the Kosovo people. According to him, the debate on Trepca and other issues should return to Parliament and there will be no riots, as certain people who don't want the best for Kosovo, would like.

The real reasons for the protest in Pristina are economic and social, not political, say the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric. The property question will certainly be on the agenda of the talks in Brussels, said Djuric.

Marko Djuric, visiting the RTS morning news, said that 15 years nobody deals with accumulated problems in Kosovo.

Police in Kosovo fired tear gas to disperse groups of stone-throwing protesters Saturday as thousands took to the streets of Pristina to demand the dismissal of a Serb minister accused of insulting the ethnic Albanian majority.

The clashes erupted at the end of a rally in the capital at which some 7,000 people, according to police, called on the government to fire Labour and Social Welfare Minister Aleksandar Jablanovic, one of three Serb ministers in Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's cabinet.

Vetevendosje MP Rexhep Selimi said today that they have called for a peaceful protest against statements by Communities and Returns Minister Aleksandar Jablanovic and the Trepca issue. “Our goal is to have a peaceful protest,” Selimi told the news site. “This government is giving the people many reasons to protest. This is neither the first nor the last protest. I don’t know if there will be more or less protesters than on Saturday.”

In an interview for RTK, Kosovo’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Petrit Selimi, said that Kosovo has more important priorities than to deal with the statements of Communities and Returns Minister Aleksandar Jablanovic. “The Trepca issue is way more important. Serbian cannot take Trepca. Kosovo is an independent country,” Selimi said.

Director of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric announced that representatives of Serbia at the forthcoming talks in Brussels, on February 9, would run several topics of importance to the Serbian community in the province.

"The first topics of interest, most certainly, will be the position of Serbian municipalities, the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian property in Kosovo and Metohija, justice. There must be the question of the missing whose fate, on both sides, is still unknown," Djuric said in an interview to "Nase novine."

The Serbian government is "acting responsibly over the Trepca case and other property issues in Kosovo and Metohija, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said.

"Everyone must understand that they cannot take away everything from Serbia without asking anything," Tanjug quoted him as saying on Sunday.

"Compromises will have to be made in solving property issues in Kosovo and Metohija," Vucic told TV Prva, but noted that he can "by no means agree with those who have recognized Kosovo's independence and who claim and insist that everything there belongs to them."

Kosovo police fired teargas on Saturday evening to disperse thousands of protesters throwing stones at a government building in a demonstration called by ethnic Albanian opposition parties. It was the biggest protest seen in Pristina since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Columnist Lumir Abdixhiku states that Trepca mine is Kosovo’s most complex asset and this complexity is primarily related to the mine’s historical importance and the development potential it has. This is further increased by the way the mine was managed in the last fifteen years which, Abdixhiku says, was characterized by “inexplicable institutional negligence.” Trepca is also burdened by creditors’ claims and this is all topped by the fact that half of the mine is outside the control of Kosovo institutions as it is located in the northern Kosovo.