Car belonging to Kosovo's Serb-born mayor set ablaze

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Kosovo's Serb-born Mayor Gorski Guric's car was set on fire early Sunday by unidentified individuals, police said.

Kosovo police said a plastic bottle and a piece of cloth smelling of gasoline were found next to the vehicle’s engine.

Police launched an investigation and the relevant prosecutor was informed.

In 2023, more than 10 vehicles belonging to Kosovo Serb employees of Kosovo institutions that had Republic of Kosovo (RKS) license plates were set ablaze by an unidentified person or persons while parked.

Kosovo Serbs launched a petition Wednesday to dismiss four Albanian mayors in northern municipalities of Kosovo.

Thousands of local Serbs gathered at the sports hall in North Mitrovica to sign a petition to dismiss Mayor Erden Atiq.

Sanja Krtinic, one of the initiators of the petition, told reporters that Atiq was illegally elected and did not represent the majority.

Atiq was elected along with three other mayors in four Serb municipalities after Serbs boycotted elections in 2023.

A total of 3,640 signatures are required to initiate her dismissal.

The signing of a petition also started Wednesday for the Leposavic municipality.

No information was given about Zvecan and Zubin Potok municipalities.

Northern Kosovo’s Serb-majority area has been the scene of unrest since last April, when ethnic Serbs boycotted elections followed by protests against the election of ethnic Albanian mayors.

The Kosovo government issued an administrative order to allow the removal of municipal mayors from office through a petition process.

The Serb List, a minority political party, is leading the petition process.

The general rule is that 20% of voters in the municipalities in question must sign the petition for the removal of the mayor.

The petition will then be sent to the Central Election Commission, and after it is verified, the referendum process on the removal of the mayor, which will require a vote of 50% plus one, can begin.

The candidates for minority Albanian political parties won extraordinary local elections on April 23 last year in four municipalities of northern Kosovo – Zvecan, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Northern Mitrovica -- after Serbs boycotted the elections.

Kosovo Serbs organized demonstrations that lasted weeks after Albanian mayors took office.

Tensions arose between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo police who were sent to the region to protect the Albanian mayors. On May 29, dozens of soldiers of NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), the alliance-led peacekeeping mission, were injured as a result of the confrontation.

The European Union demanded that Kosovo hold new elections in the region and began to impose "punitive measures" against the country on the grounds that it did not take steps to reduce tensions.

The Kosovo government also announced that it had issued the necessary legal regulations regarding the dismissal of mayors by collecting a certain percentage of signatures.