Pristina, Mitrovica, Belgrade - Whether we should expect after a series of incidents in northern Kosovo the spread of unrest and south of the river Ibar, bearing in mind that yesterday the opposition of the Kosovo Albanians, confirmed that on April 18, will protest on the streets, demanding social justice instead of the previously announced protest over the formation of community Serbian municipalities?
Violence has overwhelmed the streets of northern Kosovska Mitrovica, and citizens fear that the situation will worsen. In six separate incidents since last Thursday, eight people were injured and one disappeared. Among the injured people are mostly the Serbs, but also Bosnians and Albanians.
A series of attacks began on the night between Thursday and Friday, when a group of Albanians crossed the bridge over the Ibar/Iber River and attacked three Serbian youths. Two of them managed to escape, but the third one was severely wounded and is now recovering in Mitrovica hospital.
Two Serbs who have been detained following disappearance of a seventeen-year old Albanian in North Mitrovica are released from the detention, stated lawyer Kaplan Baruti.
Baruti said that a request of the prosecution for placing two Serbs at court custody was rejected and they are released from detention. Two Serbs were detained for 48 hours based on the prosecutors’ request.
Unknown person has thrown an explosive device last night around 23:oo at a parking lot of the Kosovo Police station in Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok, stated deputy regional police commander Besim Hoti.
Hoti stated that no one was injured in the incident, whereas four vehicles of Kosovo Police are damaged reported Tanjug.
Hoti explained that the case was registered as causing damage to immovable property and that Kosovo Police has launched the investigation, while perpetrators remain unknown.
Kosovo government last night published the Agreement on integration of members of the civil protection from northern Kosovo in Kosovo institutions.
The document signed by Kosovo minister in charge of Brussels dialogue Edita Tahiri provides details on integration of civil protection members, time frames and institutions where they will be integrated, along with conditions of integration.
Belgrade is due to inform the EU that civil protection in Kosovo won’t exist anymore in the Serbian administrative system as of 1 September 2015.
The Kosovo government has put forward a landmark proposal that will make it easier for Kosovo Serbs and members of other minority groups to apply for jobs in public institutions.
The deal involves Kosovo accepting the validity of diplomas issued by the country's Serbian-language university in the Serb-run far north of the country.
Formerly part of the bi-lingual University of Pristina, the country’s public university during Yugoslavia, Serbian language faculties moved from Pristina to the northern, Serb-run half of the divided town of Mitrovica in 1999.
The Mayor of North Mitrovica Goran Rakic rebutted allegations carried by Pristina-based Kosovapress agency that main bridge over the Ibar/Ibër River will soon open one line for traffic, and that Peace Park will be removed. He said that he is going to sue the author of the text and Kosovapress agency.
The paper writes that two years since first being reported by the Serbian government that Kosovo authorities had agreed in Brussels dialogue to the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) not going to the north of Kosovo without NATO’s consent, this was just now admitted by the Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa. According to the Constitution of Kosovo, the Kosovo Security Force are authorized to serve within the territory of Kosovo so agreement to not allow the KSF to go to the north is a constitutional violation, writes the paper.
The agreement signed last week in Brussels, according to which the Civil Protection in northern Kosovo will be dissolved till 1 September upset the Serbs north of the Ibar/Iber River. They are particularly concerned about the “mysterious atmosphere” related to the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, bearing in mind that the Albanian side comes out with the official announcement, while Belgrade is silent.
Belgrade requests that agreement on disbanding the Civil Protection in northern Kosovo cover 751 members of that structure, whereas Pristina offered 483 work places.