KFOR Commander Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia spoke to daily Italian La Repubblica on the situation in north Kosovo, where 30 peacekeeping soldiers were injured during clashes with ethnic Serbs protesting against the newly elected Albanian mayors in the northern municipalities of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cHad we not intervened, we would be mourning the dead,\u201d said Major General Ristuccia, while adding that there were people present in Zve\u010dan who deliberately incited the crowd.<\/p>\n
11 soldiers of the Italian KFOR contingent and 19 soldiers of the Hungarian KFOR contingent sustained multiple injuries during the May 29th<\/sup> protests in Zve\u010dan, including fractures and burns from improvised explosive incendiary devices. Three Hungarian soldiers were wounded by the use of firearms, with their injuries not life-threatening.<\/p>\n The NATO-led KFOR mission increased its presence in the four municipalities of northern Kosovo to reduce the risk of escalation, after newly elected Albanian mayors tried to take office.<\/p>\n KFOR troops were subsequently attacked by increasingly aggressive crowds, prompting a response to the unprovoked attacks of the violent and dangerous crowd, whilst carrying out its UN mandate in an impartial manner.<\/p>\n Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia has been personally following the development of the situation and expressed his solidarity with the NATO soldiers who were injured during the clashes.<\/p>\n \u201cTo avoid the clashes between the parties and to minimize the risk of the escalation, KFOR peacekeepers prevented threats to the lives of Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. Both parties need to take full responsibility for what happened and prevent any further escalation, rather than hide behind false narratives,\u201d declared the KFOR Mission Commander after the clashes.<\/p>\n #KFOR<\/a> statement pic.twitter.com\/0cnmW5PRfn<\/a><\/p>\n — NATO Kosovo Force – KFOR (@NATO_KFOR) May 30, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n