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☆ Interpol Issues Arrest Warrants for Gunmen in Last Year Kosovo Attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Global police agency Interpol has issued international arrest warrants for ethnic Serb gunmen accused of storming a village last year in north of Kosovo and battling police in a shootout, which left four dead, Kosovo's interior minister said on Friday. Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said Interpol has informed that all suspects of the Banjska attack have been added in the arrest warrant. Kosovo blames Serbia of being behind the shootout but Belgrade has denied such accusations. They have often clashed with Kosovo police and international peacekeepers, but last September's violence was the worst since Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Kosovo is still not a member of United Nations and all arrest warrants for Interpol are handled through a UN mission that arrived in Kosovo in 1999 when the war ended.

Persons: Xhelal Svecla, Svecla, Fatos Bytyci, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Global, Interpol, Reuters, Milan, Kosovo Serb, Facebook, Belgrade, Kosovo police, United Nations, UN Locations: PRISTINA, Kosovo, Serbia, Serbian, Banjska, Belgrade

☆ EU Envoy Tells Kosovo and Serbia to Return to Dialogue
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

PRISTINA (Reuters) - The European Union Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak urged Serbia and Kosovo to return to dialogue on normalising ties to avoid a repeat of last month's violence in northern Kosovo. Police recaptured the monastery after a shootout in which three attackers and a Kosovo police officer were killed. They have often clashed with Kosovo police and international peacekeepers, but last month's violence was the worst in years. Lajcak urged Pristina to start working on establishing an association of Serb municipalities to allow greater autonomy for Serb majority areas. Lajcak urged Belgrade to investigate the events and punish any perpetrators in its territory.

Persons: Miroslav Lajcak, Lajcak, Albin Kurti, gunbattle, Gabriel Escobar, Kurti, Aleksandar Vucic, Fatos Bytyci, Ivana Sekularac, Ros Russell Organizations: Union, Serbs, Police, Kosovo, United States, Serbian, Kosovo police Locations: PRISTINA, Serbia, Kosovo, Belgrade, Pristina, Banjska, Kosovo's, Serbian, NATO, Balkans, France, Germany, Italy

☆ A second war could easily erupt in Europe — while everyone's distracted by Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Violence erupted in northern Kosovo in September, and Belgrade responded with a military build-up on its border with its neighbor. Given the current political and security context, analysts say an outbreak of violence in northern Kosovo "should raise alarm bells." Open hostilityLong-simmering animosity between Serbia and Kosovo has broken into open hostility in northern Kosovo in recent months. Northern Kosovo, which borders Serbia, has an ethnic Serb majority whereas the country as a whole is around 93% ethnic Albanian. Mojsilovic stated that number of troops on the Kosovo border had been reduced to 4,500 from 8,350.

Persons: Milan Radoicic, Majda Ruge, Stringer, Milos Vucevic, Staff Milan Mojsilovic, Mojsilovic, Aleksandar Vučić, Vučić, Ian Bremmer, Bremmer, Ruge, Aleksandar Vucic, Krusha, Armend Nimani, Slobodan Milošević, Serbian, Albin Kurti, Andrius, Tursa, Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic Organizations: Kosovo Police, Kosovo Serb, Milan, Anadolu Agency, Getty, European Council, Foreign Relations, Albanian, Kosovo, Afp, NATO, Serbian, Staff, Financial Times, EU, Eurasia Group, Yugoslavia, Yugoslav, Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, Federal, Nato, Kosovo Albanians Locations: Banjska, Jarinje, Serbia, Zvecan, Kosovo, Ukraine, Europe, Belgrade, destabilising Kosovo, Northern Kosovo, Serbian, Serbs, Yugoslavia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Russia, Mitrovica, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Balkans, Kosovo Albanian, Krusha, Madhe, Albanian, Yugoslav, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Central, Eastern Europe, Stagovo

Some 50,000 Serbs who live in north Kosovo, do not recognise Pristina institutions and see Belgrade as their capital. Vucic told Reuters that Belgrade condemned the killing of the policeman, adding Serbia "will launch proceedings before appropriate judicial bodies" and investigate suspects. Belgrade finances schools, public health system, and most of other institutions in parts of Kosovo where Serbs constitute a majority. Vucic accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of wanting to expel Serbs from Kosovo and of stalling a compromise solution needed for mending the ties between Belgrade and Pristina. "For us the position (in Kosovo) is clearly dreadful, but ... we have to be with our people, ... (and) try to preserve peace," Vucic said.

Persons: Aleksandar Vucic, Vucic, Veton Elshani, ”, Vjosa Osmani, Milan Radoicic, Albin Kurti, Kurti, Ivana Sekularac, Aleksandar Vasovic, Fatos Bytyci, Alison Williams Organizations: Reuters, BELGRADE, Kosovo police, Kosovo Albanian, Kosovo, Pristina, EU, NATO, Serbian, United Nations Security, of, Serbia, Thomson Locations: Reuters Belgrade, Serb, Serbia, Kosovo, Pristina, Belgrade, Serbian, Banjska, Albanian, Vucic, Russia, China, of Serb Municipalities

☆ Kosovo police enter northern village after shootout with gunmen killed four
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A Kosovo police officer stands guard on a road to Banjska monastery, in the aftermath of a shooting incident, near Zvecan, Kosovo September 25, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski Acquire Licensing RightsJOSEVIK, Kosovo, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Kosovar police units in armoured vehicles moved in to secure and search a village in north Kosovo on Monday, a day after four people were killed in a shootout there between police and ethnic Serb gunmen in the restive region. The gunmen stormed the village of Banjska on Sunday, battling police and barricading themselves into a Serbian Orthodox monastery. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has blamed Serbia for financing and sending armed men to Kosovo. Tensions have been running high since clashes in northern Kosovo in May when more than 90 NATO peacekeeping soldiers and some 50 Serb protesters were injured in northern Kosovo.

Persons: Ognen, Albin Kurti, Aleksandar Vucic, Kurti, Josep Borrell, Fatos Bytyvi, Ivana Sekularac, Edmund Blair Organizations: REUTERS, Kosovar, Police, Reuters, Serbian, Kosovo, European Union, NATO, Thomson Locations: Kosovo, Banjska, Zvecan, restive, Serbian, Belgrade, Kosovo Albanian, Serbia, EU

☆ Kosovo Police Enter Northern Village After Shootout With Gunmen Killed Four
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

JOSEVIK, Kosovo (Reuters) - Kosovar police units in armoured vehicles moved in to secure and search a village in north Kosovo on Monday, a day after four people were killed in a shootout there between police and ethnic Serb gunmen in the restive region. The gunmen stormed the village of Banjska on Sunday, battling police and barricading themselves into a Serbian Orthodox monastery. The armed police units searched houses in the village on Monday, looking for any gunmen who had not fled, a police source told Reuters. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has blamed Serbia for financing and sending armed men to Kosovo. Tensions have been running high since clashes in northern Kosovo in May when more than 90 NATO peacekeeping soldiers and some 50 Serb protesters were injured in northern Kosovo.

Persons: Albin Kurti, Aleksandar Vucic, Kurti, Josep Borrell, Fatos Bytyvi, Ivana Sekularac, Edmund Blair Organizations: Reuters, Kosovar, Police, Serbian, Kosovo, European Union, NATO Locations: JOSEVIK, Kosovo, restive, Banjska, Serbian, Belgrade, Kosovo Albanian, Serbia, EU

CNN —Kosovo police said Sunday that they have killed three armed attackers and arrested another amid an ongoing shootout in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo. Kosovo is majority Albanian, but like other villages in the north, Banjska is predominantly Serbian. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but Serbia sees Kosovo as a breakaway state. Kosovo Police and a group of armed, masked men stand in front of the Banjska Monastery in North Kosovo. Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have escalated in recent months with violent protests erupting in May over controversial local elections.

Persons: “, ”, Veton Eljsani, Albin Kurti, Josep Borrell, ” “, Borrell Organizations: CNN, Kosovo police, Police, ”, Facebook, “ Kosovo Police, Kosovo Police, . Police, AP, Kosovo, Serbia’s Foreign, EU, KFOR, NATO Locations: Banjska, Kosovo, ” Kosovo, Serbian, Serbia, Belgrade, Pristina, “, North Kosovo, Banjska Monastery, EULEX

☆ Kosovo moves to lower tensions in Serb majority area
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Violence in north Kosovo, where 50,000 Serbs live and form a majority, erupted in late May after Albanian mayors took office following an election boycotted by Serbs demanding implementation of a decade-old deal for more autonomy. NATO said 93 of its peacekeeping soldiers had been injured in clashes with Serb protesters, some of them severely, on May 29. Doctors in the north said 52 Serbs were also injured. The United States and European Union, Kosovo's main allies, have mainly blamed nationalist Prime Minister Albin Kurti for tensions in the north. Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kosovo's, Albin Kurti, Fatos Bytyci, Stephen Coates Organizations: NATO, EU, European Union, Kosovo, Thomson Locations: PRISTINA, Kosovo, Serbs, United States, Pristina, Brussels

☆ EU wants concrete steps by Kosovo to ease tensions before lifting sanctions –envoy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PRISTINA, July 4 (Reuters) - The European Union will not lift political and economic sanctions on Kosovo unless the government de-escalates tensions with ethnic Serbs, EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak said on Tuesday during a visit in Pristina. EU countries imposed punitive measures on ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo after Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government failed to heed EU and U.S. requests to defuse strife in the country's north following the worst clashes in over a decade. "My wish is not to have sanctions," Lajcak told reporters in Pristina after a three-hour meeting with Kurti. Some 30 NATO peacekeeping soldiers defending three town halls in northern Kosovo were injured in clashes with Serb protesters, and 52 Serbs were hurt. Lajcak said the EU also wanted Serbia, which north Kosovo Serbs still devote their allegiance 15 years after Pristina declared independence from Belgrade, to act constructively to defuse the crisis, or face penalties as well.

Persons: Miroslav Lajcak, Albin Kurti's, Lajcak, Kurti, ”, Kosovo's, Fatos, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: European, EU, Kosovo, ”, NATO, Wednesday, European Union, Thomson Locations: PRISTINA, Kosovo, Serbs, Pristina, Brussels, Serbia, Kosovo Serbs, Belgrade, United States

[1/2] An Italian member of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) looks on while standing guard in Leposavic, Kosovo, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen TeofilovskiBULBOACA, Moldova, June 1 (Reuters) - The presidents of Serbia and Kosovo insisted on Thursday they want to defuse a violent crisis in northern Kosovo but showed little sign of backing down from their opposing positions. Violence flared on Monday after Kosovo authorities, backed by special police units, installed ethnic Albanian mayors in offices in northern municipalities. But he said Kosovo authorities should withdraw "alleged mayors" from the north and declared the Kosovo special police units were there illegally. Vucic said he did not even know who was coming to the summit from Kosovo.

Persons: Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic, Vjosa Osmani, Osmani, Vucic, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Albin Kurti, Macron, Scholz, Jens Stoltenberg, Andrew Gray, Fatos Bytyci, Ivana Sekularac, Sabine Siebold, John Irish, Daria Sito, Edmund Blair Organizations: NATO, Kosovo Force, REUTERS, Kosovo, European, Political, Thomson Locations: Italian, Leposavic, Kosovo, BULBOACA, Moldova, Serbia, Belgrade, Moldovan, European Union, United States, Oslo

☆ Factbox: Key facts on Kosovo, independent for 15 years from Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here are key facts about the small western Balkan republic:POPULATION: Around 1.8 million, according to the most recent census in 2011, which local Serbs boycotted. HISTORY & PEOPLE: Kosovo became part of the Kingdom of Serbia in the early 13th century, with a mixed population of ethnic Albanians, Serbs and Vlachs. Mutual expulsions and migrations to and from neighbouring Albania in the early 20th century changed Kosovo's ethnic makeup. He accused Kosovo Albanians of persecuting local Serbs and restricted their rights in education and local government. It backs nationalist minority Serbs in north Kosovo boycotting the state, creating a de facto partition.

☆ Serbs in north Kosovo boycott local elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A Kosovo Albanian man prepares to vote at a polling station in the village of Qabra, Kosovo, April 23, 2023. REUTERS/Valdrin XhemajZUBIN POTOK, Kosovo, April 23 (Reuters) - Serbs in northern Kosovo boycotted local elections on Sunday in protest that their demands for more autonomy have not been met, in another sign that a peace deal signed between Kosovo and Serbia last month is not working. The main political party in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Serbian List, called on Friday on the Serb community not to vote on Sunday. Serbia and the Kosovo Serbs are demanding the creation of an association of Kosovo Serb municipalities, in line with a decade-old EU-brokered deal with the Kosovo government in Pristina, before they take part in the vote. On Tuesday Kosovo's elected prime minister Albin Kurti said Belgrade was intimidating Serbs from the north not to participate in the elections.

[1/4] A person rides on a motorcycle with Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) flag attached to it on the day of celebrations of the 15th anniversary of Kosovo independence in Pristina, Kosovo, February 17, 2023. "Our independence was achieved through struggle and sacrifice, but our independence will only grow through work," Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said ahead of the parade. Tensions with Serbia linger as Belgrade continues to support the refusal of 50,000 minority Serbs in north Kosovo to accept the country's independence, declared almost a decade after an uprising against repressive Serbian rule. Resolving their volatile stand-off is a major condition for Serbia and Kosovo to progress towards EU membership. The anniversary was ignored in the Serb-majority town of North Mitrovica in north Kosovo.

"International companies that were supposed to arrive for the first time in Kosovo told us that they were delaying opening shops due to the unstable situation," Fatmir Zymberi told Reuters. The main, longstanding fount of tensions is the refusal of 50,000 ethnic Serbs in north Kosovo to recognise the government in Pristina or Kosovo as a separate country. The area of north Kosovo where ethnic Serbs form a majority looks in some respects like an extension of Serbia. The Kremlin denied influencing Serbia to stir up conflict, saying Belgrade was just defending the rights of Kosovo Serbs. "I am more worried than I have been in many years about the risk of conflict in north Kosovo that could then spill into reprisal attacks on Serbs in south Kosovo.

☆ Explainer: Why Kosovo's stand-off with Serbs goes on 15 years after statehood
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Serbs in north Kosovo vent their rejectionism by refusing to pay the state utility for energy they use and often attacking police who try to make arrests. North Kosovo Serbs on Dec. 10 erected multiple roadblocks and exchanged fire with police after a former Serb policeman was arrested for allegedly assaulting serving police officers during a previous protest. But with nationalist hardliners powerful on both sides, not least among north Kosovo Serbs, no breakthrough is on the horizon. The area of north Kosovo where Serbs form a majority is in important ways a virtual extension of Serbia. Local Serbs fear that once fully integrated within Kosovo they could lose benefits such as Serbia's free public healthcare and be forced onto Kosovo's private healthcare system.

☆ Serbia's Vucic urges Serbs in Kosovo to remove barricades - official
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia and Serbs in north Kosovo have refused to recognise that and their licence plates are still being issued by Serbia. Serbs in north Kosovo have erected barricades and blocked roads for about three weeks following the arrest of former police officer Dejan Pantic by Kosovo police. Vucic has called on Serbs in the north to remove barricades, Petkovic added. Vucic and Kosovo Serb representatives will meet Wednesday evening near the Kosovo border and announce if the barricades will be removed, Petkovic said. Earlier on Wednesday, the United States, NATO and European Union urged maximum restraint by both sides in the standoff.

☆ Kosovo police exchange fire with local Serbs blocking roads
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Kosovo Serbs block the road near the village of Rudine, North Mitrovica, Kosovo December 10, 2022. REUTERS/Ognen TeofilovskiMITROVICA, Kosovo, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Kosovo Serbs and country’s police exchanged gunfire on Saturday after a flareup of tensions in the volatile northern part of the country. Earlier in the day Serbs from Kosovo's north blocked main roads in the region to protest against the arrest of a former member of the Kosovo police who quit his post last month along with other ethnic Serbs. With a crisis mounting in the majority Serb north, Kosovo's president Vjosa Osmani on Saturday announced that local elections in that area would be delayed until April 23. "Serbia has instructed its illegal structures to set up barricades in the north Kosovo.

BRUSSELS/BELGRADE, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The European Union on Monday warned of "escalation and violence" after Kosovo and Serbia failed to agree in emergency talks on a solution to their long-running dispute over car licence plates used by the ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo. Kosovo has attempted this year to require its Serb minority to change their old car plates that date before 1999 when Kosovo was still part of Serbia. The dispute over licence plates has stoked tensions for almost two years between Serbia and its former breakaway province, which declared independence in 2008 and is home to a Serb minority in the north backed by Belgrade. Around 50,000 ethnic Serbs who live there refuse to recognise Pristina's authority and still consider themselves a part of Serbia. Additional reporting by Bart Meijer; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ North Kosovo Serbs quit state jobs in licence plate protest
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MITROVICA, Kosovo, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Minority Serbs in the north of Kosovo said on Saturday they were quitting their posts in state institutions including the government, police and courts to protest Pristina's order for them to start using Kosovo vehicle licence plates. The long-running licence plate row has stoked tensions between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, which gained independence in 2008 and is home to a small ethnic Serb minority in the north that is backed by Belgrade. Blerim Vela, chief-of-staff to Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, accused Belgrade of seeking to destabilise Kosovo by backing Serbs in the north. "Serbia is coercing and inciting Kosovo Serbs to abandon their jobs in Kosovo institutions," Vela tweeted. Another roughly 40,000 ethnic Serbs, who live in parts of Kosovo that are majority ethnic Albanian, use licence plates issued by Pristina.

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