EU police fire tear gas to quell Kosovo Serb protest
, By Branislav Krstic
BRDJANI, Kosovo, May 1 (Reuters) - European Union police (EULEX) fired tear gas on Friday to disperse Serbs demonstrating for a seventh day against the return of Albanian refugees to tense, northern Kosovo.
Around 200 Serbs carrying flags and banners reading "EULEX fascist" and "Occupation" gathered in the village of Brdjani, outside the flashpoint town of Mitrovica, to protest the reconstruction of seven houses belonging to Albanian returnees.
The demonstrators chanted "Kosovo is part of Serbia" as the EULEX police officers prepared to use teargas to stop them approaching Albanian construction workers.
"With such moves EULEX shows that it is not neutral, but it protects the interest of Albanians," said Nebojsa Minic, a local Serb leader.
NATO peacekeeping troops from France, Denmark, Greece and Belgium are patrolling the area in armoured vehicles to try and prevent fresh outbreaks of violence in Mitrovica, where a river splits the town into largely Serb and Kosovo halves.
EULEX spokesman Christophe Lamfalussy said three Molotov cocktails were thrown at EULEX vehicles in Serb-held north Mitrovica late on Thursday evening, causing slight damage to a car.
Tensions have remained high in north Kosovo since the Albanian majority proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008, nine years after NATO bombed Serb forces to halt the killing of civilians in the two-year counter insurgency war.
The 120,000 remaining Serbs who make up Kosovo's two million population refuse to cooperate with Albanian-run institutions and oppose the deployment of the EULEX force.
Following the declaration of independence, the EU gave the green light for a mission made up of police, customs and court officials to oversee the institutions of Kosovo.
The mission was supposed to take over from the United Nations mission that had run the former province since 1999. (Writing by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Ivana Sekularac and Sophie Hares)
BRDJANI, Kosovo, May 1 (Reuters) - European Union police (EULEX) fired tear gas on Friday to disperse Serbs demonstrating for a seventh day against the return of Albanian refugees to tense, northern Kosovo.
Around 200 Serbs carrying flags and banners reading "EULEX fascist" and "Occupation" gathered in the village of Brdjani, outside the flashpoint town of Mitrovica, to protest the reconstruction of seven houses belonging to Albanian returnees.
The demonstrators chanted "Kosovo is part of Serbia" as the EULEX police officers prepared to use teargas to stop them approaching Albanian construction workers.
"With such moves EULEX shows that it is not neutral, but it protects the interest of Albanians," said Nebojsa Minic, a local Serb leader.
NATO peacekeeping troops from France, Denmark, Greece and Belgium are patrolling the area in armoured vehicles to try and prevent fresh outbreaks of violence in Mitrovica, where a river splits the town into largely Serb and Kosovo halves.
EULEX spokesman Christophe Lamfalussy said three Molotov cocktails were thrown at EULEX vehicles in Serb-held north Mitrovica late on Thursday evening, causing slight damage to a car.
Tensions have remained high in north Kosovo since the Albanian majority proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008, nine years after NATO bombed Serb forces to halt the killing of civilians in the two-year counter insurgency war.
The 120,000 remaining Serbs who make up Kosovo's two million population refuse to cooperate with Albanian-run institutions and oppose the deployment of the EULEX force.
Following the declaration of independence, the EU gave the green light for a mission made up of police, customs and court officials to oversee the institutions of Kosovo.
The mission was supposed to take over from the United Nations mission that had run the former province since 1999. (Writing by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Ivana Sekularac and Sophie Hares)
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