Kosovo Serbs gather to take over municipality buildings in the north

By RADUL RADOVANOVIC and LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

ZVECAN, Kosovo (AP) — Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo have tried to take over the local government buildings where Albanian mayors entered last week with the help of police. Kosovar police and NATO-led Kosovo Force are seen protecting the municipality building in Zvecan, one of the four communes to hold snap election last month that was largely boycotted by ethnic Serbs. Only ethnic Albanian or other smaller minority representatives were elected. More than a dozen Serb protesters and five Kosovar police were injured in clashes last Friday when the recently elected mayors entered the offices. The United States and the European Union condemned Kosovo’s government for using police to forcibly enter the municipal buildings. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 independence.