Russia is ready to provide Serbian partners with support in defending legitimate national interests in relation to Kosovo, primarily in international structures, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a letter to Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic, reports Belgrade based daily Vecernje Novosti.
Srpska Lista that left Kosovo Government submitted lawsuits to the Police Inspectorate in Pristina over the action of the Kosovo police special unit in the north of Kosovo on Monday, Tanjug news agency reported.
Outgoing Kosovo Interior Minister Deputy, Milan Radojevic said that submitting lawsuits are one of the conclusions of the meeting of 10 Serb-majority municipalities’ representatives.
Outgoing Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communities and Returns, Dalibor Jevtic said today during the government’s session that following the events in Mitrovica North on Monday, “we should look each other in the eyes and get responses to some questions,” KIM Radio reported.
He requested from the government members response as why the force was used against Serbs who raised their hands up and based on the order lie down on the floor.
“Were out pens and notebooks threat to anyone?” Jevtic asked.
Deputy Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Zeljko Jovic who sustained injuries during the arrest of Marko Djuric, told Danas daily “it was not an intervention, but a mere attack in a terrorist style, that much brutal they have not speared women and journalists either.”
Serbian national broadcaster, RTS reported Leposavic Mayor, Zoran Todic was in the path of Kosovo police unit during the raid on Monday.
“It’s a third day since these unpleasant events. It’s incomprehensible that someone uses so much force and brutality against the legitimately elected representatives who just wanted to talk about everyday problems” Todic added.
“A few minutes after the beginning of the meeting”, Todic continued “masked units of Kosovo police force violently raided the premises by throwing shock bombs”.
RTV Puls Editorial Board condemned the brutal police intervention during arrest of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director, Marko Djuric, when among others, colleagues and journalists doing their job were attacked and their equipment damaged, KIM Radio reports.
The EBU and its community has strongly condemned an attack on journalists in Kosovska Mitrovica this week.
Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) cameraman Vladimir Milić was among a group of journalists assaulted by the Kosovo Police Force in the Mitrovica Community Centre while covering a meeting of the local community about the Kosovo dialogue.
Reportedly, the Kosovo police, armed with assault rifles, broke into the meeting hall where they threw tear gas and concussion bombs. A group of five journalists were assaulted and Milić was beaten and his camera broken.
Kosovo police members lost a fully loaded magazine with live ammunition on the day they arrested Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Marko Djuric, RTS reported.
The incident happened in Mitrovica North on Monday, close to the site where Djuric was arrested, RTS further reported.
The Kalashnikov rifle magazine was found about 100 meters from Mitrovacki Dvor, where special Kosovo police forces were located before storming the venue.
Representatives of Serbs in Kosovo were meeting in Mitrovacki Dvor at the time.
A group of non-governmental organizations from northern Kosovo in the strongest terms condemned yesterday excessive use of force by the Kosovo special police unit against citizens, participants in a roundtable and journalists reporting on the event, Serbian media reported.
Russia and the US have both reacted to Monday's incidents in Mitrovica North and the arrest of Serbian official Marko Djuric.
Both countries have condemned these events, Tanjug reports today.
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs "resolutely condemned" the incident in Mitrovica North, saying it was aimed at "intimidating all Kosovo Serbs."