New occupation of municipalities in Northern Kosovo, they burned the Serbian flag

Serbian citizens and employees of the municipality of Zvečan gathered this morning in front of the institution’s building to demand the return of their jobs, “Danas” reported.

The mayor of Zvechani did not come to work this morning, but went to work at the local office in the village of Lipa, Politika reported. “During the discussion with KFOR and the police, we came to the conclusion that for security reasons we should work from here. We believe we will be back at headquarters soon,” Pezzi said.

The Serbian flag near the monument to Miloš Obilić at the roundabout in Gračanica was set on fire last night, Radio Kim reported today. Police officials refused to give Kim Radio reporters any information about the arson other than that it happened “at night.”

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti spoke last night with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, the Special Representative of Great Britain for the Western Balkans, and the Ambassadors of the Quinte about the situation in Kosovo. As he wrote on Twitter, he expressed concern about the violence against the representatives of the Quintet and condemned the attacks on the Kosovo police, members of KFOR, and journalists.

“Ultranationalist Serbian graffiti on NATO vehicles is a dark reminder of Kosovo. We are for peace and security,” Kurti wrote.

This morning, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with the ambassadors of the countries of the Quinte (USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy) and with the head of the EU permanent delegation in Serbia in connection with the escalation of the situation in Kosovo, BGNES recalls.

A large number of citizens also gathered in front of the Leposavich municipality building, where the newly appointed mayor Lulzim Hetemi spent the night. Soldiers of the Italian KFOR are deployed in large numbers in the center of the city, and behind them are cars of the special units of the Kosovo Police. This morning, the representatives of the Serbs also spoke with the representatives of the Italian KFOR and repeated their demands that they are released from the “illegally usurped working premises of the municipalities so that they can do their work without hindrance”. The requests are for Hetemi to leave the municipality building, but also for the special police to withdraw.

“Kosovo Online” reports that around a hundred people have gathered in front of the entrance to the Zvechan municipality building since early dawn and that more are arriving.

Dragan Nedelkovic, a representative of the interim authorities of the municipality of Zvečan, said that the Serbs who were detained yesterday in Zvečan have not yet been released, adding that according to KFOR’s promises, all members of special Kosovo units must be withdrawn today by 15:00 hours.

Nedelkovic informed the journalists that last night around 21:30 the representatives of Srabska Lista spoke again with the commander of KFOR, who told them that they were waiting for documents for the release of the detained Serbs.

“According to the information I have, they have not been released yet. The fact is that KFOR immediately handed them over to the Albanians,” Nedelkovic said.

He added that the commander of KFOR has announced that part of the special forces will withdraw from Zvechan at night, and by 15:00 today they will withdraw completely.