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| Citizen of Mitrovica placing Serbian flags on the street |
"Moscow ignites the conflict in Kosovo", is the headline of the Italian newspaper La Repubblica about the latest developments in the north of the country.
The Italian newspaper writes that Serbian politicians and policemen resigned in protest against the Government of Kosovo and that "the prime minister accuses Russia" for this and that "Belgrade has put the army on alert".
Serbs today gathered in North Mitrovica, where a protest rally called Serbian LIst was held.
In front of the officials of this party, the Serbian policemen on Saturday took off their Kosovo Police uniforms. According to the Serbian List, there are no longer any Serbs in the institutions of Kosovo, including the Government and the Parliament. This decision came after the refusal of the Government of Kosovo to give up the decision to replace vehicle license plates, which are issued by Serbia.
The call of the Serbian List - the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo - to leave the institutions of Kosovo was answered today by the four mayors of the municipalities of North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Zveçan, who have officially submitted their resignations. In an extraordinary session of the Assembly of the northern municipality, the councilors from the ranks of the Serbian List have also decided to leave their posts. The former mayor of Northern Mitrovica, Milan Radojevic, has said that the reason for his resignation is the current political situation caused by the unilateral power movements in Pristina.
The action of Serbian officials in northern Kosovo comes just one day after Kosovo Police Commanders who belong to the Serbian community took off their uniforms on Saturday.
However, it still remains unclear whether about 400 other officers of the Serbian community in the four northern municipalities have also abandoned this institution. Officials of the Serbian List as well as leaders in the judicial system also resigned.
They have announced that they will not return to Kosovo's institutions until the Government of Albin Kurti withdraws the decision on license plates and begins work on the formation of the Association for municipalities with a Serbian majority. At the border point in Jarinje, the number of members of the EULEX mission has increased. Currently, the situation is calm and no incident is reported.
However, a video that has been published on social networks has increased the fear of inciting tensions. The footage shows a vehicle with illegal KM license plates and several masked people who are armed. "We are back, Kosovo is Serbia, Crimea is Russia" the people can be heard in the video.
However, the video cannot be confirmed if it was filmed in the last few days or if it is an old shot from 2014.