2008 unrest in Kosovo

Unrest following declaration of independence 2008 unrest in Kosovo Image:North Kosovo.png Map of Kosovo with North Kosovo in orange. Northern Kosovo has been the centre of unrest following Kosovo's declaration of independence. February 17 – June 28, 2008 North Kosovo The Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija was formed to coordinate resistance to the Kosovar Government Civil_Flag_of_Serbia_variant.svg Kosovo Serbs Flag_of_Albania.svg Kosovo Albanians NATO NATO 18px Kosovo Force Flag of the United Nations.svg UNMIK No centralised leadership No centralised leadership NATO John Craddock Casualties: 1 dead, 150 injured (total) The 2008 unrest in Kosovo followed Kosovo's declaration of independence on February 17, 2008. Some Kosovo Serbs opposed to secession boycotted the move by refusing to follow orders from the central government in Pristina and attempted to seize infrastructure and border posts in Serb-populated regions. There were also sporadic instances of violence against international institutions and governmental institutions, predominantly in North Kosovo. Tensions in the North intensified when Serbs in Mitrovica seized a UN courthouse on March 14, 2008. UN police and NATO forces responded on March 17, and attacks by Serb protesters left one UN police officer dead and as many as 150 people wounded.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7300015.stm Kosovo clashes force UN pullout BBC News 2008-03-17 2008-03-17 On June 28, 2008, Kosovo Serbs formed the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija to coordinate resistance to the Kosovar Government. Boycott of Kosovo government Kosovo Serbs said they intended to form parallel institutions and assert control over infrastructure and institutions in their area in response to Kosovo's declaration of independence; after the local elections in May, Kosovo Serb leaders announced the intention to establish a Kosovo Serb Assembly.https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSHAM83664120080229 Serbs bid for Bosnia-style division in Kosovo Reuters 2008-02-29 2008-03-03 The Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo said they would not be in contact with Kosovo's Albanian government, EULEX, or any country which recognizes Kosovo's independence, threatening to sanction any clergy who do so.http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=03&dd=03&nav_id=48132 Church in Kosovo cuts ties with Priština, EULEX B92 2008-03-03 2008-03-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20080304220632/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=03&dd=03&nav_id=48132 2008-03-04 dead A Serb minister said Serbia planned to have its "own police" in Serb areas as part of an action plan to maintain Serbia's presence in Kosovo. In North Kosovo some Serb members of Kosovo security forces stopped taking orders from the government in Pristina and claimed command from the UNMIK. In the eastern Gjilan region around 100 Serb officers were suspended from the Kosovo Police Service. Stanko Jakovljević, Serb mayor of Štrpce, a Serb enclave in the south, said Serb police "will do today what Serbs ... did in northern Kosovo. They will only recognise orders from international police."https://www.reuters.com/article/europeCrisis/idUSL29409743 Serb police in Kosovo reject Albanian command Reuters 2008-02-29 2008-03-03 In central Kosovo 126 Serb police officers withdrew from the Kosovo Police Service refusing to take commands from the central government.http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/newsbriefs/2008/03/02/nb-02 Serb police officers in Kosovo demand return to UNMIK command Southeast European Times 2008-03-02 2008-03-03 Members of the Kosovo Police Service said Serb officers were being intimidated to leave the police force.http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-serb-police-intimidated Kosovo Serb Police 'Intimidated' Balkan Insight 2008-03-06 2010-10-20 On March 3, 2008, Serb railway workers declared they no longer worked for Kosovo after blocking the passage of freight trains from central to northern Kosovo. The head of Serbia's state railroad company Serbian Railways said Serbia was "taking over its responsibilities after nine years" and that the northern part of the railway would be integrated into Serbia's railway system.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/04/content_7711083.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20121017015336/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/04/content_7711083.htm dead October 17, 2012 Serb railway workers stop train in northern Kosovo Xinhua 2008-03-03 2008-03-03 On March 5, 2008 UNMIK forces said they reclaimed the railway after blocking the entry of Serbian trains into Northern Kosovo warning that any movement of trains south would "not be tolerated".https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7278665.stm UN 'reclaims' Kosovo rail line BBC News 2008-03-05 2008-03-07 The next day UNMIK officials met with officials from Serbian Railways in Belgrade to discuss the company's demands to run railways in northern Kosovo. The managing director of Serbian Railways Milanko Šarančić said there was no chance of UNMIK running traffic in the north of Kosovo as employees of Serbian Railways terminated their contracts with UNMIK railways. He also said that the company had begun checking lines in the north, as "UNMIK has not maintained the lines properly for nine years."http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=03&dd=07&nav_id=48248 No agreement between Serbian Railways, UNMIK B92 2008-03-06 2008-03-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20080311043153/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=03&dd=07&nav_id=48248 2008-03-11 dead Serb protestors blocked Albanians from working at the courts in North Kosovska Mitrovica, and Serb judges and court employees demanded that they be allowed to work at the courts instead.http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=120662&Itemid=594 Serbia's government to discuss whether to stop servicing Kosovo debt Prince George Citizen 2008-03-02 2008-03-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20070903225927/http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content 2007-09-03 dead Attacks on Kosovo border posts On Tuesday February 19, 2008 2,000 Serb protestors, some driving bulldozers, set two border posts on fire along the Kosovo–Serbia border.https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR2008021902585.html?hpid=sec-world Serbs in Kosovo Set 2 Border Posts Afire The Washington Post 2008-02-20 2008-03-03 Peter Finn The destruction of the border posts was sparked by reports that Kosovo Albanian customs officials were planning to man the borders.http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/serb-mob-destroys-kosovo-border-posts/2008/02/20/1203190855425.html Serb mob destroys Kosovo border posts Sydney Morning Herald 2008-02-20 2008-03-03 UN peacekeepers stationed at the checkpoints were forced to abandon the posts until they were reopened the following day.https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSHAM958448 U.N. police quit destroyed Kosovo border post Reuters 2008-02-19 2008-03-03https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL20871554 NATO reopening ransacked Kosovan border posts Reuters 2008-02-20 2008-03-03 Attacks at the Mutivoda crossing point on Monday February 25, 2008 by 100 Serbs injured 19 members of the Kosovo Police Service and forced the post to be closed until the next day.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/26/content_7674535.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20080303093151/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/26/content_7674535.htm dead March 3, 2008 Kosovo border post reopened after violence Xinhua 2008-02-26 2008-03-03 Attacks on the international presence and Kosovo institutions The day after Kosovo's declaration of independence two bombs in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica damaged several UN vehicles, though there were no injuries. After several attacks in northern Kosovska Mitrovica an advance team of the EU administrative force withdrew over security concerns. On March 3, 2008, a UN office in northern Mitrovica was hit by two sniper bullets, with no injuries.http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/shots-fired-at-north-kosovo-un-office Shots Fired At North Kosovo UN Office Balkan Insight 2008-03-03 2010-10-20 On March 28, 2008, a police checkpoint in northern Kosovo manned by Serb officers came under fire apparently from a semi-automatic weapon fired from the ethnic Albanian village of Koshutevë, north of Mitrovica, and the officers returned fire. No injuries were reported.http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL2850319720080328 https://web.archive.org/web/20080403084819/http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL2850319720080328 dead April 3, 2008 Shots fired at Kosovo Serb police in tense north Reuters 2008-03-28 2008-03-28 On June 26, 2008, in the village of Borivojce near the eastern town of Kamenica members of the local Serb and Roma community barricaded a road to protest the construction of a mosque authorized by the local government. According to a police statement Serb inhabitants put rocks on the road. Around 100 Albanians on the other side of the barricade started to remove the rocks and then threw stones at them. The police statement say the police then intervened to separate the groups, and that a Kosovo Serb and a police officer were injured.http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/clashes-as-kosovo-serbs-protest-mosque Clashes as Kosovo Serbs Protest Mosque Balkan Insight 2008-06-26 2010-10-20 Seizure of UN courthouse in Mitrovica On March 14, 2008, after staging rallies for several weeks that prevented ethnic Albanian court employees from entering a UN courthouse in the northern part of Mitrovica, hundreds of Kosovo Serbs broke into the building in the Serb-dominated part of the city, forcing UN police to retreat.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7296262.stm Kosovo Serbs seize UN courthouse BBC News 2008-03-14 2008-03-14 UN officials' negotiations with the Serbs to end the occupation were unsuccessful, and on March 17 UN police with the assistance of NATO-led KFOR forces entered the courthouse in a pre-dawn raid. When they arrived they were pelted with stones by around 100 Serbs. When they came out after arresting 53 of the protesters inside the courthouse they were attacked with gunfire, grenades and rocks by several hundred protesters who had massed outside.http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ji84LRNNCuZVZ2vCngmqvnNEpyjQ UN police forced out of Kosovo town after clashes Agence France Presse 2008-03-17 2008-03-17 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080322232015/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ji84LRNNCuZVZ2vCngmqvnNEpyjQ 2008-03-22 About half of the protesters who had been arrested were freed by fellow protesters during the clashes with the rest being released by the UN after questioning.Radul Radovanovic Peacekeepers battle Serbs in Kosovo 2008-03-17 Yahoo News https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_re_eu/kosovo_serbs Associated Press 2008-03-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20080322011032/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_re_eu/kosovo_serbs 2008-03-22 dead The clashes lasted until around noon. One Ukrainian police officer was killed, 70 Serbs and 61 UN and NATO peacekeepers were wounded, and one UN vehicle and one NATO truck were set ablaze. Among the wounded international troops were 27 Polish and 14 Ukrainian police officers and 20 French soldiers. UN police withdrew from northern Mitrovica, leaving the area under the control of the NATO forces.UN officer dies after Kosovo riot 2008-03-18 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7300015.stm BBC News 2008-03-18 Gen. John Craddock, NATO's top commander, said that after speaking with NATO commanders in Kosovo that NATO did not feel it necessary to send reinforcements to Kosovo. On 19 March 2008, UN police began to patrol parts of north Mitrovica again together with local Kosovo police, while the NATO peacekeepers still remained in overall control of security at the courthouse and generally in the north of Kosovo. A gradual transition to civilian control was planned over the next days.UN police back in north Mitrovica 2008-03-19 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7305752.stm BBC News 2008-03-19 Reactions International Civilian Representative Pieter Feith, and the EU's envoy to Kosovo, accused Serbia of attempting to "sever the links" between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo. Feith added that the international steering group set up to supervise Kosovo's independence "will not tolerate partition, because partition of this country is not foreseen and will not be accepted by us." Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said in a joint press conference with Feith that the "functioning of parallel institutions will not be tolerated."https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL29664407 Serbia trying to split Kosovo communities-EU envoy Reuters 2008-03-03 2008-03-03 US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said Kosovo's response to the "provocations in the north" vindicates the US's decision to recognize Kosovo's independence declaration.https://www.reuters.com/article/europeCrisis/idUSL07772718 US condemns Serb "provocations" in north Kosovo Reuters 2008-03-07 2008-03-07 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Serbian leaders to press the minority Serb community in Kosovo to avoid "provocative action" following the clashes in Mitrovica March 17.http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j1nilUdGUo-YAoKqjtcPqMJyPmzw https://web.archive.org/web/20080321061234/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j1nilUdGUo-YAoKqjtcPqMJyPmzw dead 2008-03-21 Rice urges Serbian leaders to rein in Kosovo Serbs Agence France Presse 2008-03-17 2008-03-17 officials urged for UNMIK to secure the borders of Kosovo leading up to the arrival of the EU's mission in Kosovo with Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen saying they wanted to avoid a "soft partition" of Kosovo.https://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSL1081490220080310 EU urges U.N. to step up Kosovo-Serbia security Reuters 2008-03-10 2008-03-10 Mark John 's President Boris Tadić accused the international forces in Kosovo of using "excessive force" and warned of "an escalation of unrest on all the territory of the province" following clashes in Mitrovica over UN court seizures. Serbia's caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica said his government was consulting with Russia on joint steps to stop "all forms of violence against Kosovo Serbs" and accused NATO of "implementing a policy of force against Serbia". It was reported steps could include the deployment of Russian troops in the north.https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL17760221 Serbia says working with Russia on Kosovo response Reuters 2008-03-17 2008-03-17 Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardžić told protesters, "We will protect you just like we protect the Serbs in Serbia." called for a resumption of talks on the status of Kosovo, saying the unrest was a result of the territory's unilateral independence declaration. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks against UN and NATO-led forces following the clashes on March 17 and urged "all communities to exercise calm and restraint." 's Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing concern over unrest and calling for Serbs in Kosovo to avoid violence.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/18/content_7810380.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20080322090140/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/18/content_7810380.htm dead March 22, 2008 Bulgaria voices concerns with developments in northern Kosovo Xinhua 2008-03-17 2008-03-17 n Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik called on Serbia and Kosovo Serb leaders to promote calm in the region adding, "The Serbian government has repeatedly vowed to refrain from violence as a political tool. This must also be carried out consistently."http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hAcQmYCoEsAhUh5mCYVlCmifRc8Q https://web.archive.org/web/20080319213131/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hAcQmYCoEsAhUh5mCYVlCmifRc8Q dead 2008-03-19 World powers call for calm after deadly Kosovo clashes Agence France Presse 2008-03-18 2008-03-18 ’s Milorad Dodik, the prime minister of Republika Srpska said the use of force against Serb protesters in northern Kosovo was "inappropriate whatever the cause for that might be."http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnia-serb-head-slams-kosovo-force Bosnia Serb Head Slams Kosovo 'Force' Balkan Insight 2008-03-18 2010-10-20 See also Bac u kry 2004 unrest in Kosovo 2008 protests against Kosovo declaration of independence North Kosovo crisis (2011–2013) 2021 North Kosovo crisis References 30em Unrest In Kosovo, 2008 Category:Independence of Kosovo Category:Protests in Kosovo Category:Serb rebellions Category:Serbian–Albanian conflict Kosovo 2008 Category:North Kosovo Category:Kosovo–Serbia relations Category:Serbian nationalism in Kosovo Category:Serbian irredentism