The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, announced on Friday 2 June, following a call with the Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States, Jon Finer, that new elections would be organised in the north of Kosovo in an attempt to put an end to the violence that has been raging for almost a week in this region of the country (see EUROPE 13190/20).
Mr Kurti’s announcement comes at a time when the United States, which believes that Pristina is at the root of the tensions, has decided to sanction Kosovo by cancelling the country’s participation in planned NATO military exercises and cutting off the aid it is providing to support the country’s membership of international organisations.
The future organisation of new elections was also confirmed by the Kosovar President, Vjosa Osmani. Several heads of state or government, including Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron, had made this request on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Chișinău.
While new elections are due to be held shortly, Mr Kurti has nevertheless declared that the violence, which he considers to be “supported by Belgrade”, must be brought to an end before the next elections are held.
“We have to insist that violence is not the way. Violence has to be condemned and the perpetrators of this violence have to be accountable. And everybody has to try to avoid any kind of escalation and uncoordinated moves”, said the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.
The north of Kosovo has seen outbreaks of violence since 26 May, when Albanian mayors of four Serb-majority municipalities took office. They were elected on 23 April in elections boycotted by Serbs living in this region of Kosovo. The turnout did not exceed 3.5%.
In this context, NATO announced on 30 May that it was sending an additional 700 soldiers to Kosovo to stem the violence and tension in the country (see EUROPE 13191/6). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)