In Kosovo, a soldier shot two Serbs while off duty, raising concerns that ethnic conflict could flare up again. The two victims, a 21-year-old man and an 11-year-old boy, were carrying an oak branch that is traditionally burned on Orthodox Christmas Eve when the 33-year-old suspect suddenly fired from his passing vehicle.
The 21-year-old was hit in the hand and his cousin in the shoulder. They were admitted to a hospital. The incident happened near Shterpce ski resort.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on two citizens of Kosovo,” Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Friday evening. He is very concerned about the victims’ wounds. The 33-year-old soldier has been arrested.
Roadblock by angry Serbs
Some angry Serbs blocked the main road that connects Shterpce to the rest of the country after the incident (see video below). They believe that the local authorities initially let the shooter escape. Now there is renewed concern that the ethnic conflicts in Kosovo will flare up again.
A week ago, a crisis between the communities and between Serbia and Kosovo was resolved after the arrest of a Serbian police officer. About 100,000 Serbs live in mainly Albanian Kosovo, half of them in the north. Most of these approximately 50,000 Serbs have for years refused to recognize the government in Pristina and Kosovo as a state. Serbia also does not recognize the region’s independence, which was unilaterally declared in 2008, and describes Kosovo as an autonomous province of Serbia.
Source: Krone
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