Petrit Selimi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, For Danas on the unrest in Mitrovica

Pristina, Belgrade - The situation in Mitrovica was tense, but we should not surrender our political agenda to provocateurs.

I believe that this incident caused the nationalists, who want to take advantage of the post-election vacuum to create a political landscape that will delay the normalization, including the launch of the Court of the Republic of Kosovo in the north, and the formation of the Community of municipalities, in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo – said to Danas Petrit Selimi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, normally in charge of public relations in the cabinet of the Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

Selimi said that construction of a "peace park" near the bridge over the Ibar/Iber River in Mitrovica, where earlier were the barricades, was an unnecessary provocation that represents an abuse of trust, as well as possible criminal act of illegal construction. "Local politicians in the north and south need to be careful, because the amnesty, which was passed a few months ago in the parliament of Kosovo, will not apply to future actions of the Mayors," said Selimi.

Kosovo police said that during the protest on the south side of the bridge over the Ibar/Iber River in Mitrovica, at least 21 people were injured, five were arrested and four vehicles were set on fire in the conflict between protesters and police. Albanians from the southern part of the town protested on Sunday due to the construction of a "peace park ", which was recently built on the north side of the main Ibar/Iber Bridge after the concrete barricades, were removed.

Petrit Selimi in an interview to Danas said that the parliamentary elections in Kosovo were very successful, since they were organized for the first time in the entire territory of Kosovo, including the northern municipalities.

"According to the reports of observers, these were among the most democratic elections in Kosovo after the war, a fact that Serbs participated also means that the irreversible integration of the north began into central institutions of Kosovo," concluded Selimi.