Kosovo police officer wounded in volatile northern region

MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) – A police patrol was attacked on Thursday in Kosovo’s volatile north, injuring an officer, two hours after police troops were sent in the region in an attempt to replace hundreds of Serb cops who resigned last month over a car plate dispute.

Kosovo announced it was sending more police officers to its northern region on Thursday, a move that may fuel more tensions between Belgrade and Pristina as the Serb majority in the north consider themselves part of Serbia.

In a statement, police said a group of armed people with long weapons in an Audi-type grey vehicle attacked a police patrol.

“As a result of the incident a police officer was injured and considerable material damage was caused to the police car,” the statement said.

Police said it would continue to increase its presence over the next few days to maintain order. Only few troops were in the area since hundreds of police officers from the overall Serb minority quit their jobs last month.

The head of the Serbian government office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, condemned the deployment in the north.

“Following this forceful act and unlawful violence, significant changes regarding process of normalisation and dialogue will follow,” he said.

Kosovo interior minister Xhelal Svecla accused Belgrade of supporting criminal groups in the north.

“All these tensions, all these violations of the law are happening because of the criminal decisions of the Government of Belgrade,” Svecla told public television RTK.

Normalisation of relations with Kosovo is a key condition for Serbia to gain membership in the European Union.

On Tuesday, explosions were heard and shots fired in the north as Kosovo police escorted a state election commission delegation to visit municipalities in the Serb majority areas.

Serb mayors in northern Kosovo municipalities, along with local judges and some 600 police officers, resigned from their jobs last month in protest over a government decision to replace Belgrade-issued car licence plates with the ones issued by Pristina.

Although Pristina agreed to postpone enforcement for several months, Serb officials and police have not returned to their positions.

The Kosovo election commission has scheduled municipal elections for Dec. 18 in the Serb-held north to fill positions.

Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia is recognised by around 110 countries but not by Serbia, Russia, China and five European Union member states.

Belgrade and Pristina on Tuesday pledged to stay committed to an EU-sponsored dialogue which was opened in 2013 to resolve outstanding issues.

Some 50,000 Serbs in northern Kosovo, backed by Belgrade, refuse to recognise Pristina institutions.

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Josie Kao)