Kosovar authorities took control on Tuesday of a building near Lake Ujman in the northern part of the country, prompting a reaction from Serbia, which claimed the building was used by the Red Cross.<\/p>\n
The Deputy Director of Kosovo Police for the north, Veton Elshani, told Radio Free Europe (RFE) that police assisted in the operation to take control of the facility.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s decision is the latest in a series of moves by Kosovo authorities to shut down parallel Serbian institutions operating on Kosovo territory.<\/p>\n
Days earlier, authorities had taken over the building of the National Employment Service in North Mitrovica and closed the premises of the local sports hall, the city museum, the Institute for Culture, Youth, Sports and Specialized Services, as well as the cultural and artistic association Kosovski Bo\u017eur.<\/p>\n
The Director of Serbia\u2019s Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovi\u0107, and the Serb List \u2013 the largest party of Kosovo Serbs \u2013 condemned the move, claiming it had shut down \u201cone of the oldest and most important humanitarian organizations in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Petkovi\u0107 said the facility had been used \u201cexclusively for training children and participants in Red Cross courses, including first aid and rescue training, sports competitions, courses and lectures, and accommodation for tourists and athletes staying in this part of Kosovo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe brutal intervention of Kosovo police units in the building at Lake Gazivoda, which belongs to the Red Cross of Kosovo and Metohija, under the order of Albin Kurti\u2026 constitutes a serious violation of all relevant international conventions,\u201d the Serb List said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It added that the Red Cross of Kosovo and Metohija \u201chas over the years united all communities and provided aid to members of all communities \u2013 Serb, Albanian, Roma, Bosniak, and others \u2013 without exception.\u201d<\/p>\n
Days earlier, the European Union reacted by stating that the actions of Kosovo authorities in the north risk escalating tensions on the ground and negatively impact the daily lives of local communities as well as Kosovo\u2019s international image.<\/p>\n
Source: Radio Free Europe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kosovar authorities took control on Tuesday of a building near Lake Ujman in the northern part of the country, prompting a reaction from Serbia, which claimed the building was used by the Red Cross. The Deputy Director of Kosovo Police for the north, Veton Elshani, told Radio Free Europe (RFE) that police assisted in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":78706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,1803],"tags":[150,243,151],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n