The repeated parliamentary elections in Kosovska Mitrovica are going smoothly and there have been no incidents, said Kosovo police (KPS) Spokesman Besim Hoti.
He explained that 500 KPS officers were securing the polling stations and providing security to the citizens.
Unidentified persons torched a car on Thursday evening in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, said reports. Regional spokesperson of the Kosovo police, KPS, Besim Hoti, told Tanjug that the incident occurred in the vicinity of the Faculty of Economics, adding that unidentified persons threw a Molotov cocktail on a parked vehicle owned by a Kosovo Serb, a security worker at the Faculty.
Around 500 ethnic Albanians protested in southern K. Mitrovica on Saturday against the report authored by Council of Europe Special Rapporteur Dick Marty.
No incidents occurred during the protest, which was organized by NGO Rilindia and veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
A car belonging to a Kosovo Serb was set on fire in the northern part of the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica on Monday morning . Another vehicle which was parked nearby was also damaged.
A hand grenade exploded in the early hours of Friday in northern Kosovska Mitrovica.
No one was injured in the incident, said reports.
The Democratic Party (DS) and the coalition gathered around them no longer have a majority in the city assembly of Kosovska Mitrovica. After the early municipal elections in this Kosovo town in May, DS and their partners had 16 councilors, while the Serb Progressives (SNS) and DSS parties won 14 assembly seats.
Interior Minster Ivica DaÄić said on Thursday that Serbia supports the fight against crime, but pointed out that it should be depoliticized. Commenting on an arrest in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica on Wednesday, DaÄić said that EULEX should maintain balance in the situation and therefore conduct arrests of criminals in the entire Kosovo and Metohija territory, lest somebody thought that their actions are directed against Serbs alone.
Strong security forces were deployed in northern, predominantly Serb part of Kosovska Mitrovica last night, said reports from the divided town. Checkpoints are being placed “each 50 meters”, according to eyewitnesses.
Minister for Europe in the British Foreign Office David Lidington has condemned the violence that has taken place in Kosovska Mitrovica recently. He called on the citizens of Kosovo to resolve their problems in a peaceful way.
A blast which rocked northern Kosovska Mitrovica early on Thursday caused material damage, but fortunately no one was injured. Commander of the police station in Kosovska Mitrovica Bratislav Kragović told the Tanjug news agency that two cars were damaged in the incident, one of which belongs to a member of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS).
Outgoing KFOR Commander Gen. Markus Bentler said on Wednesday that violence is possible between Serbs and ethnic Albanians. He specified that this could occur in northern and southern parts of the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
EULEX Deputy Head Roy Reeve said Monday that the EU mission has appointed seven of its judges to the court in northern Kosovska Mitrovica. According to him, this came in an attempt to reduce the number of unresolved cases, which has reached 20,000.
Kosovo Minister Goran Bogdanović says that the opening of a court in northern, Serb part of the divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica, “cannot be allowed”. The minister noted that this was the case, “unless the intention was to impose unilateral decisions and solutions on Serbs”.
Independent Liberal Party official Petar Miletić was shot in front of his apartment in Kosovska Mitrovica, said reports.
Miletić lives in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. He is a member of the Kosovo assembly in Priština.
Several thousand citizens attended the funeral on Saturday of local doctor Mesud Džeković, who was killed in an explosion on Friday during Serb protests. Along with family, friends and neighbors, Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanović, Serbian parliamentary MPs and local government officials also attended the funeral service.
A day of mourning has been declared in Kosovska Mitrovica for Mesud Džeković, the pediatrician who died in a blast on Friday in the city. An explosive device was thrown among a group of protesting Serbs in northern Kosovska Mitrovica on Friday, killing Džeković and injuring 11 others.
Thousands northern Kosovska Mitrovica residents escorted the body of Mesud Džeković, killed in a blast on Friday, from the local hospital to his home. Džeković, a local pediatrician, died in the Kosovska Mitrovica Medical Center from injuries sustained this morning when a hand grenade was thrown at a demonstration staged by local Serbs, who protested an attempt of the Kosovo Albanian government in Priština to open an office in the ethnically divided town.
EULEX officials will not recognize the results of elections that will be held for selecting municipal administrators in northern Kosovska Mitrovica. EULEX spokesperson Kristina Herodes said that the EU mission does not recognize the so-called parallel structures and that this is why the elections will not be recognized.
Political parties are campaigning in northern Kosovska Mitrovica ahead of early local elections scheduled there for May 30. The Serbian government also decided that local elections would be held on the same day in the Novo Brdo municipality.
