Tensions are high in northern Kosovo where the Serb population in four towns are trying to prevent newly elected mayors from taking office. In the cities of North Mitrovica, Zvečan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok, sirens sounded this afternoon and Serbian citizens formed a cordon around the entrances of the local government buildings, preventing the new mayors from entering. Strong police forces rushed to these cities with the order “to ensure the smooth functioning of the institutions”. In the town of Zvečan, the police, using tear gas, managed to repel the Serbs and entered the building.

The president of Serbia Aleksandar Vucicbecause of the incidents in northern Kosovo, put the armed forces on a level of combat readiness and ordered the movement of army units to the administrative border with Kosovo, Serbian public television (RTS) reported

It is worth noting that today about 10,000 Serbs from Kosovo bussed to Belgrade to participate in the rally in support of Aleksandar Vucic organized by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. Political analysts estimate that due to the absence of thousands of Serbs from the north of Kosovo, the government in Pristina decided today to impose the election result on the so-called Serbian municipalities.

It is noted that municipal elections were held in these cities on April 23, which the Serbs, who constitute the majority of the population, boycotted and elected ethnic Albanian mayors. The election result was not recognized by the representatives of the Serbian community. Serbs are calling for elections to be held after the Union of Serbian Municipalities is first established, an obligation Pristina undertook in 2013 under the Brussels Agreement but refuses to fulfill.