Published: Less than 40 min ago
President Vjosa Osmani postpones local elections in four places in the Serb-dominated northern part of Kosovo. The elections were due to be held on December 18, but have now been moved to April next year after tensions rose in the region.
During Saturday, a few hundred Kosovo Serbs set up roadblocks on two of the main roads between Kosovo and Serbia, stopping traffic on the main routes between the countries for several hours.
The protesters are demanding the release of a police officer with Serbian roots. He was arrested earlier in December on suspicion of trying to destroy polling stations and attacking police officers in Kosovo with Albanian roots.
The unrest began when the main Serbian parties announced that they would boycott the December 18 elections. The elections are being held to fill the seats left vacant after Serbian MPs walked out in protest at the government’s actions during the protracted dispute over license plates between Serbia and Kosovo in the autumn.
That conflict was resolved via EU mediation in November.