Leposavic, located in the north of Kosovo, consists almost entirely of Serbs. After Hetemi won the election by 100 votes, he was forced to live in his office in the presidential residence by NATO troops and the Kosovo Special Police due to increasing tensions.
According to Haber Global, Serbs decided to boycott the elections held in northern municipalities due to a dispute over car registrations.
BENEFIT STARTED IN MAY
Shortly after Hetemi took the oath of office, he said, Serbian protesters surrounded his office and demanded he leave. Hetemi refused and has been staying in the building since May 29 without returning home.
“Who wants to stay in an office and sleep on chairs?” Hetemi said, describing the first days he spent without being able to leave his office. “When I was running for mayor, I had no idea whether the Serbs would pull out of the election race and make such a maneuver,” Hetemi said.
CAN ONLY GO TO THE TERRACE
Hetemi then gets a bed and sleeps in a room attached to his office, where he meets with international envoys and NATO officials trying to prevent any violence and find a solution for new elections.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The taking office of the Albanian mayors, who won the local elections held on 23 April in the Serb-dominated Zveçan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic municipalities in the north of Kosovo, was protested by Kosovo Serbs on 26 May.
A fight broke out between the Kosovo police and Kosovo Serbs, who were sent to the region to protect the Albanian mayors, and 30 KFOR soldiers were injured as a result of the confrontation between KFOR soldiers protecting the municipal buildings and Kosovo Serbs on 29 May.
On June 14, Serbia detained three people, identified as Kosovo police officers, in the border region of the two countries on the grounds that they were “planning to carry out an action in Serbia”, and Kosovo claimed that the police officers were “kidnapped” by Serbia. Serbia released Kosovo police officers on June 26.
While the Kosovo police detained approximately 10 Kosovo Serbs for different reasons, Serbia demanded the immediate release of these people.
The Turkish commando battalion, consisting of approximately 500 soldiers, was assigned at the request of the NATO Joint Force Command after the events that took place in Kosovo, and was tasked with providing security around the municipalities in the north of Kosovo.
The main reason for the tension between the two countries, which periodically confront each other, is expressed as Serbia’s view of Kosovo, which declared its unilateral independence in 2008, as its territory.
Within the scope of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Process, which was initiated in 2011 under the mediation of the EU, efforts are being made to find a common path for the normalization of relations and ultimately for the two countries to recognize each other.
