Kosovo police fired tear gas on Friday to disperse Serbs protesting the Albanian takeover of town halls in northern Kosovo, a region of the former Serb majority province, an AFP journalist found.

The mayors were appointed following local elections organized by the Kosovo authorities on April 23 in four municipalities populated mainly by Serbs, who largely boycotted the elections: out of an estimated 45,000 registered voters, only about 1,500 voters took part in the elections.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken “strongly condemned” the decision of the Kosovo authorities to appoint these advisers, despite warnings from the European Union and the US.

“These measures unnecessarily escalated tensions, undermined our efforts to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia, and will have consequences for our bilateral relations with Kosovo,” Blinken said in a statement.

Clashes between Serbian demonstrators and police first erupted in front of the town hall in Zvečan, according to an AFP journalist.

To repel the demonstrators, the police used tear gas.

Shots can also be heard on videos published on social networks.

About ten people received minor injuries and are receiving medical assistance at a hospital in the northern part of the divided city of Mitrovica, the deputy director of the hospital, Danika Radomirovych, told Kosovo media.

According to the same source, at least one police car was damaged.

Police also fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in two other municipalities, Leposavic and Zubin Potoc, Serbian National Television (RTS) reported.

Serbs erected barricades near Leposavich, RTS adds.

“high anxiety”

In Belgrade, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić ordered the army to be put on “high alert”, as it has been several times in recent years due to tensions with Kosovo (most recently in December), and to “start moving” towards the border with Kosovo. Serbian province, as reported by RTS.

Kosovo police did not comment on the latest incidents, only confirming in a press release that they had helped new mayors take office in three of the four municipalities targeted.

There are many points of tension in northern Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008 but has never been recognized by Serbia.

Serbs there are encouraged by Belgrade to challenge the Kosovo authorities, which are trying to assert their sovereignty over the entire territory.

The municipal elections came just a month after the European Union announced a deal to normalize relations between Belgrade and Pristina during a meeting in Ohrid in northern Macedonia, but which both sides did not sign.

To advance this dialogue, Belgrade is calling for the creation of an “association of Serbian municipalities” that would have some autonomy and bring together some 120,000 Serbs from Kosovo, a country of 1.8 million with a vast majority. their Albanians.