Stone throwing turns into violent clashes with police in Kosovo over arrest warrants for opposition MPs
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Stone throwing protesters were stopped by police using teargas from trying to break into Kosovo’s parliament on Wednesday.
Anger erupted over the issue of arrest warrants for several opposition politicians. It was the second day of unrest in Pristina . At least 13 protesters were detained.
Earlier police had tried to arrest opposition MP Albin Kurti. He’s led a series of protests in parliament against an EU-brokered accord offering minority ethnic Serbs greater autonomy and possibly some financing
from Belgrade. The opposition also objects to a border demarcation deal with Montenegro that it says hands Kosovan territory to its neighbour.
When police broke into his flat Kurti was not there although he later turned up .
Kurti has on several occasions disrupted parliamentary debate on the the proposed deal – letting off teargas and pepper spray.
Almost 8 years after Kosovo won its independence from Serbia, the EU is trying to smooth relations between the Balkan neighbours but many among Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority are opposed to concessions made to Belgrade.
Kosovo’s Constitutional Court is due to rule on the constitutionality of the accord soon.
Over night there were reports of further unrest in the capital:
#Protests flared in #Kosovo, demonstrators hurling stones at police and setting cars alight https://t.co/FLxOM1AGvc pic.twitter.com/7B1b5wWSyH
— Marija Ristić (@Marien__R) November 18, 2015