June 2 – Kosovo opposition parties on Friday blamed Prime Minister Albin Kurti for worsening relations with Western allies over violence in the north in which NATO peacekeepers were injured, and they called for a no-confidence motion against the government.
On Friday, Kosovo’s parliament called a session to discuss the implications of the tensions in the north.
“You are playing with fire,” Memli Krasniqi, of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, told Kurti in the parliament as quoted by Reuters.
“If the cost is to endanger the relations with Kosovo’s biggest allies after sanctions have started already, I want to ask you, is it worth it?” he said.
Former prime minister and leader of the Alliance for Change Ramush Haradinaj called on deputies to file a no-confidence motion against the government.
“Let’s…stop this mistrust, humiliation, lies and treason by dismissing Kurti’s government,” he told MPs.
At the European Political Community summit in Moldova on Thursday, France and Germany called on Kosovan authorities to organise new elections in the divided northern region.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged the formation of an association of Serb municipalities, granted by Brussels agreement signed in 2013, but which Kurti has refused so far.
Kurti dismissed criticism and blamed Serbia for financing and supporting Serbs in the north, who do not recognise the 2008 declaration of independence and see Belgrade as their capital.
“It’s worrying (US sanctions) but more worrying are the fascist militias in the north,” Kurti told Kosovo KTV on Thursday evening.
Violence flared on Monday after Kosovan authorities, backed by special police units, installed ethnic Albanian mayors in offices in northern municipalities. The clashes wounded 30 NATO peacekeeping troops and 52 Serb protesters. /argumentum.al
