Policeman injured, three police cars attacked in northern Kosovo

Kosovo police said on Wednesday that one policeman was injured and three official cars were attacked in Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Zvecan.

Protests by local Serbs on Wednesday passed off peacefully, but some threw stones at police cars in the afternoon, the statement said.

Police noted that during the day, some journalists were prevented from carrying out their duties by “criminal groups” and their vehicles were vandalised.

The police called on demonstrators to refrain from violence.

Dozens of people were injured in Monday’s incidents in Zvecan, including 30 soldiers of the NATO Kosovo mission (KFOR).

The protests in the municipalities of Zvečan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic, a predominantly Serb-populated area in northern Kosovo, started on 26 May when groups of local Serbs gathered in front of the municipal buildings to protest against the entry of the new albanian mayors into the municipal buildings.

Elections in four municipalities in the north of the country were held on 23 April, following the resignation of a municipal mayor from the ranks of the Srpska Lista, the largest party of Kosovo Serbs, last November.

The elections were boycotted by the majority Serb population in the area, which now does not recognise the election of new mayors.