Sirens are sounding in Mitrovica as Kosovo is poised to explode and the Serbian army is on alert. More than a dozen members of the special police arrived in jeeps at the local government buildings in Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Zvetsan.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has put the country's army on full combat alert and ordered its units to approach the border with Kosovo, Tanjug news agency reported on Friday.
Vucic's orders came as Serbs in the northern Kosovo municipality of Zvetsan clashed with Kosovo police trying to help the newly elected Albanian mayor into his office.
The local vote had boycotted the Serbs who represent the majority in the region. Local media reported that Kosovo police fired tear gas into a crowd gathered in front of the municipality building.
Dozens of Serbs, employed by the provisional authorities of these municipalities, gathered at the entrances of the buildings. The arrival of special police officers was accompanied by the sound of sirens in the areas of Leposavic, Mitrovica and Zubin Potok, which the residents of these areas activate to warn of danger. At the moment there are Kosovo police around the municipal buildings.
Kosovo police tried to enter the Zubin Potok municipality building, but people prevented them, Milija Biševac from the "Zubin Potok" Political Initiative told Tanjug. Kosovo police and EULEX are at the scene.
Sirens also sounded in Mitrovica, and according to the Tanjug journalist, the reason is unknown. A small group of citizens gathered in front of the building of the temporary authority of the municipality.
The mayor of Zubin Potok, Izmir Zeqiri, who won 197 votes in the April 23 election, was sworn in yesterday in the village of Čabra, the mayor of Zvečan ljir Peci in the Albanian-majority village of Boljetin. The mayor of Leposavic, Lulzim Hetemi, was also sworn in to the local office in the settlement of Šaljska Bistrica. All three mayors took the oath in the Albanian language and speaking to the media said they will work in the interest of all communities. The mayor of the northern part of Mitrovica, Erden Atić, was sworn in on May 19 and won 553 votes in the election.
