Mitrovica’s pro-Belgrade minority blocked roads because they believe Pristina’s government is violating their rights
A badly concluded war never ceases to be latent. The conflict in the former Yugoslavia is the best example of this, especially since many of the agreements that made it possible to achieve the fragile peace brokered by the European Union have been violated. Embers continue to flare between Serbia and the former autonomous province of Kosovo, which gained unilateral independence in 2008.
This status was accepted by the majority of the international community – not by Spain – but did not neutralize the conflict. Since 2013, there have been constant protests in the city of Mitrovica, divided by ethnic issues and by an alleged violation by the government of Pristina of the agreement to create a community of Serb municipalities that would operate with some self-government.
This month’s demonstrations and barricades have resulted in clashes with gunshots and explosions and the decision by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to place his troops deployed at the border on the highest level of combat alert on Monday. There had been tension for weeks about the so-called ‘license plate crisis’. This conflict refers to the measures regarding the type identification of the vehicles of the Kosovo Serbs, whose owners were ordered to replace their old Belgrade number plates with others issued by Pristina.
However, the conflict really boiled over after the arrest of a former Serbian police officer for allegedly assaulting active officers during an earlier protest. Meanwhile, NATO peacekeepers (Kfor) are mute and non-working witnesses to the future of an Albanian-majority region also home to some 50,000 Serb citizens – 5% of Kosovo’s 1.8 million inhabitants – who have Belgrade as their capital. and who refuse to do so. recognize the new ‘status quo’.
The day before yesterday, the fire was fueled with new firewood, when the authorities of the young Balkan country accepted the entry of the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the decision of the Srpska Lista (Serb List) party not to participate in the upcoming municipal elections. confirmed. “The situation there is complicated and complex,” all analysts in the region agree. Belgrade believes that Kosovo is violating the rights of the Serbian minority in its desire to consolidate its sovereignty over the entire territory. Pristina, for her part, believes that the residents only seek chaos and destabilization with the ultimate goal of causing armed clashes. This section contains the decision of the Kosovo Serbs to refuse to pay the Kosovo energy company for the electricity they consume.
Meanwhile, protests continue despite attempts at dialogue and mediation by the EU and other international organisations. The final straw that fell on an already overflowing glass was the submission of Kosovo’s application to join the European Union. Since 2008, Brussels maintains the Eulex mission in Kosovo, consisting of about 200 special police officers.
Source: La Verdad
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