Turkish soldiers they arrived today at Kosovo in order to reinforce the multinational peacekeeping force KFOR, after the clashes with Serbian protesters, during which about 30 of its members were injured, NATO announced.

Last week the NATO said it would send reinforcements, about 700 troops, because of violence that broke out after municipal elections and disputed results in northern Kosovo.

About 500 Turkish soldiers make up the bulk of these reinforcements and “will be deployed in Kosovo for as long as necessary,” the Alliance said.

It has also been put into a multinational battalion of reserve forces on alertn, which is ready to reinforce KFOR, “if needed”.

The demonstrations they broke out since the Kosovo government decided to install Albanian mayors in four towns in northern Kosovo where the majority of the inhabitants are Serbs.

The Serbs boycotted the municipal elections and consider the result invalid since the turnout was around 3.5%. Last Monday, 30 KFOR soldiers were injured in clashes with protesters who threw stones, bottles and Molotov cocktails at them. The demonstrators demanded the withdrawal of the special forces of the Kosovar police and the Albanian mayors.