Hundreds of protesters gathered today outside the Assembly building in support of the opposition MPs who were trying to block the Assembly session this morning. According to media reports, protesters threw teargas, rocks, bottles and petrol bombs at the police. Kosovo Police spokesperson, Baki Kelani, told KTV that the protesters attacked the police with Molotov cocktails. According to Kelani, six police officers were injures and needed medical help. “One of the police officers had severe head injuries.

Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, today during the Assembly session, requested by the legal authorities to take measures against the opposition MPs for, as he said, their violent actions at the Assembly. “The opposition’s actions at the Assembly are intolerable. Those who attack, those who throw chemical stuff which endangers the health of the MPs and diplomatic representatives, will answer for their actions. I call on the legal authorities to take action. We will not allow that 30 MPs to obstruct the work of the majority,” Mustafa said.

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hashim Thaci, said today that the opposition is acting violently and criminally in the Kosovo Assembly. According to him, no one can block the work of the Assembly.  “These are criminal and crazy acts to obstruct the work of the Kosovo Assembly. We are elected to implement our state agenda, such as budget. Today, opposition attacked us not only with teargas but with poison as well.

The United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Greg Delawie, during a press statement today called on the opposition parties to stop the violence. "The opposition should understand that the representatives of the people are elected in ballot boxes and not with weapons,” Delawie said. He praised the ruling-coalition MPs “who are serving the people of Kosovo despite the teargas.” “I am proud to stand with Kosovo’s democratically-elected assembly members as they face tear gas to serve the people of Kosovo,” Delawie said.

Opposition representatives used pepper spray and teargas today in an effort to block the work of the Kosovo Assembly. Vetevendosje MP Albin Kurti released pepper spray in the direction of the government ministers which then led to the ruling coalition MPs vacating the hall where the session was taking place and resuming it in an alternate space. Opposition called the session in an improvised setting illegal but this did not prevent the legislators from adopting the draft law on Kosovo’s budget.

Opposition lawmakers in Kosovo fired tear gas and pepper spray in parliament on Tuesday, the latest such incident in a deepening political crisis over relations with former master Serbia.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3321736/Tear-gas-pepper-spray-fired---Kosovo-parliament.html

Kosovo Assembly President Kadri Veseli said after the meeting of the presidency that it is very important for the MPs to be able to vote tomorrow on the 2016 budget. “The budget includes economic perspective, infrastructure investment, improvement of the citizens’ lives and salaries of public sector servants,” said Veseli adding that there should be no negative images in the world coming from Kosovo. He also said that it would be “unjustifiable” if the opposition tried to block the work of the Assembly.

Leaders of Vetevendosje, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) said in a press conference today that the diplomacy of Kosovo has failed miserably in securing votes for membership in the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO) and is instead blaming Serbia’s campaign for this.

The paper in a front-page editorial today writes that warnings of the opposition parties that they will block the Assembly session where the MPs are expected to review and approve the budget bill for 2016, is a signal for a new crisis, this time - financial crisis. "Blocking the Assembly due to the harmful agreements reached with Serbia will have serious political consequences, adding further tensions to government-opposition relations.

The paper today runs an opinion piece by Andrea Capussela, former head of the economics unit of the International Civilian Office in Kosovo, on the recent developments in the Kosovo Assembly. “I continually read that police and prosecutors plan to arrest the Kosovo Assembly MPs for throwing teargas in the Assembly and who are now not responding to the prosecution’s invitation to be interviewed. But, if they arrest the MPs, they would violate the Constitution of Kosovo.