Eurasia Press & News
Up to twenty people were injured Sunday in clashes between Kosovo’s police and Serbs, sparked by electricity cuts.
The protests began at the eastern village of Gjilan/Gnjilane, when police say protesters gathered and blocked the Gjilane/Gnjilane-Bujanovac road.
Kosovo Police said that ten policemen were injured as around 300 Serbs threw stones at them. Serbian media reports that some 20 people were hurt.
For the past three days several Serb inhabited villages are facing power cuts after refusing to pay their electricity bills to Kosovo’s electricity company, KEK.
Local Serbs argue that they will not to pay their electricity bills to KEK and want the Serb government to step in and provide electricity via a second distributor.
Serbia’s Minister for Kosovo, Goran Bogdanovic, has appealed to Kosovo Serbs to avoid quarrels with Kosovo’s Police.
According to Kosovo’s Public Television, RTK, Bogdanovic told local Serbs that they “cannot solve their problems with violence”, and urged them to find a peaceful solution.
The police arrested five protesters, and the situation on Monday morning was reported to be calm.
Gjilan/Gnjilane, located in east Kosovo, is populated by a large number of Serbs.
