Three opposition lawmakers were arrested in Kosovo amid chaotic scenes in parliament, filled once more with tear gas in a fresh protest against an accord with former master Serbia.
Opposition MPs have been disrupting the work of parliament for two months by releasing tear gas in the chamber each time it tries to sit.
They are demanding the government revoke a deal, brokered by the European Union, to grant minority Serbs greater local powers and the possibility of funding from Belgrade. They also oppose a border demarcation deal with Montenegro.
Opposition supporters have rioted several times on the streets of the capital, Pristina, heightening the sense of a young country in crisis almost eight years since it declared independence from Serbia.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to visit Kosovo tomorrow in a gesture of support for its development as an independent state, 16 years after a U.S.-led Nato air war to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians by Serbian forces.
Opposition lawmakers twice released tear gas in the chamber yesterday. Police rushed out Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and other ministers.
Local media and opposition parties said the parliament's presidency had suspended all opposition MPs from the session, which continued later in the day without them.
"We will protest inside the parliament and outside in the streets," Glauk Konjufca of the opposition Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party said.
"One of the options is also early elections; let them verify whether the Kosovo people support them".
On Friday, masked police armed with rifles arrested Vetevendosje's founder, lawmaker Albin Kurti, on charges of releasing tear gas in parliament. So far five MPs have been detained and arrest warrants have been issued for two more.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here