Protests continue at town hall in northern Kosovo

(16 Jun 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4440171

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Leposavic, Kosovo - 16 June 2023
1. NATO-led international peacekeepers standing at town hall entrance
HEADLINE: Protests continue at town hall in northern Kosovo
2. Kosovo Serbs standing in front of the town hall
3. NATO-led international peacekeepers and Kosovo Serbs in front of Leposavic town hall
ANNOTATON: Kosovo Serbians are continuing to protest against the recent election of an ethnic Albanian mayor in the northern town of Leposavic.
4. Pan from NATO-led international peacekeepers and Kosovo police at entrance of the town hall to people standing in the front
ANNOTATION: Tensions flared last month after police seized local municipality buildings in northern Kosovo to install ethnic Albanian mayors.
5. Wide of NATO-led international peacekeepers in front of town hall
6. Wide of members of the Kosovo Serbian community near town hall
ANNOTATION: The mayors were elected in April. Serbs who represent a majority in the town boycotted the vote.
7. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Zoran Todic, former mayor of Leposavic: ++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOT 8++
”We really want and demand that all these people who, with the use of force, were brought to this building, to leave the building so we can go back to normal life, and that all open issues are solved through dialogue, respecting these people, and that we can come to some solution, that can only be achieved through compromise, to see what are the interests of these people, and in which way we can build future for us who are living here and for our families and our children.”
8. Wide pan of people and NATO-led international peacekeepers in front of the town hall
9. Various of NATO-led international peacekeepers in front of the town hall
ANNOTATION: The new mayor is reportedly inside the building, which is being guarded by Kosovo Police and NATO-led international peacekeepers.
STORYLINE:
Kosovo Serbians gathered outside the town hall of the northern Kosovo town of Leposavic on Friday to protest against the recent election of an ethnic Albanian mayor.

Tensions flared up last month after Kosovo police seized local municipality buildings in northern Kosovo, where Serbs represent a majority, to install ethnic Albanian mayors who were elected in a local election in April. Serbs had overwhelmingly boycotted the vote.

Local media reported the new mayor was inside the town hall building, which is being guarded by Kosovo Police and NATO-led international peacekeepers.

The former mayor of Leposavic Zoran Todic, from the Kosovo Serbian community, resigned after the elections.

Speaking to reporters on Friday he called for the new mayor and police to leave.

Leposavic is a Serb-majority area in northern Kosovo.

Serbia and its former province Kosovo have been at odds for decades, with Belgrade refusing to recognise Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

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[spirituslocus]

Serbia has a right to protect his country. Kosovo belong to Serbia, why give it to the Albanian? Never!