Night passes calmly in Zvecan, Serbs continue protest

ZVECAN - The night passed calmly in Zvecan, a Serb-majority municipality in the north of Kosovo-Metohija and, in the morning, local Serbs continued a peaceful protest that began at the end of May.

The protesters, who have been gathering in front of a cordon of Kfor troops every day, said they would not end the protest until their demands were met.

They want all special units of the so-called Kosovo Police withdrawn from the north of Kosovo-Metohija and two Serb protesters released from custody.

They are also demanding that ethnic Albanian mayors stop coming into municipal buildings in the four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of the province.

Daily protests have also been underway in two other municipalities - Zubin Potok and Leposavic.

The municipal building in Zvecan is still being secured by Kfor and special forces armed with long firearms are deployed inside.

The protests in the north of the province erupted after Pristina's police stormed the municipal buildings on May 26 to get the mayors inside.

Kfor and Pristina's special police clashed with Serb protesters in Zvecan on May 29 and more than 50 Serbs and over 20 Kfor troops were injured as a result.

The mayors were elected in Pristina's recent local polls that were boycotted by Serbs.