Ethnic Serbian representatives have walked out of Kosovo’s government in response to the arrest and expulsion of a senior Serbian government official, and have set up a roadblock in northern Kosov
Serbs Walk Out Of Kosovo
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Politicians representing Kosovo’s Serbian minority announced the decision to leave the government after they met on March 27 with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, saying they will no longer support Kosovo’s government.
The developments came a day after Marko Djuric was briefly detained after entering the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica because the authorities said he had entered the country illegally.
They also followed EU-brokered negotiations between the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia on March 23 that broke up without any reported progress on efforts to normalize relations.
Djuric, who is the head of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo, was transferred to a court in Pristina before being expelled from the country.
Officers also fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of ethnic Serbs protesting against the arrest.
The incident has fueled friction between Serbia and Kosovo, a former province that declared independence in 2008 and is recognized as a sovereign state by well over 100 countries but not by Belgrade or Moscow.
In northern Kosovo, Serbs have parked trucks to block a key road linking them with the capital, Pristina.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it ‘strongly’ condemned the incident in Mitrovica, alleging that it ‘aimed at intimidating Kosovo Serbs.’
EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini made an urgent trip to Belgrade later on March 27 for talks with Vucic.
Mogherini’s spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic, said the two would discuss ‘the future of the EU-facilitated dialogue’ between Serbia and Kosovo.
Mogherini earlier had called for restraint from both sides.
The EU-brokered talks in Brussels on March 23 ended without apparent progress toward a normalization agreement, which the EU wants completed by the end of 2019.
In a statement after the talks, Mogherini stressed that a comprehensive normalization agreement is a key condition for both countries to further their bids to join the EU.