Kosovo shuts down 5 Serbian governing structures in the north and US reacts with alarm

On Friday, the Kosovo police raided several offices of the Serbian community in the north of Kosovo, which were said to be acting on the instructions of Belgrade and thereby violating Kosovo laws. The action was condemned both in the EU and at the American embassy in Kosovo.

Kosovo authorities have closed five institutions that work with the ethnic Serb minority, drawing criticism from the US that it could further escalate tensions with neighboring Serbia. In addition, they are said to have carried out raids on municipal offices, raided the premises of a clinical center and one of the centers for social work.

The Kosovo police raided the buildings of the Serbian government's organs in northern Kosovo on Friday night, the Serbian Prime Minister strongly condemned Pristina's move, reported the Serbian Public Service Television (RTS).

According to the local government minister, the aim was to liquidate Serbian institutions parallel to those of Kosovo.

Kosovo shuts down 5 Serbian governing structures in the north and US reacts with alarm

Kosovo authorities have closed the ethnic Serb minority’s so-called parallel institutions in five northern municipalities.

Kosovo raids Serbia-linked municipal offices in troubled north

Kosovo authorities on Friday raided five municipal offices linked to the Belgrade government in ethnic Serb areas near its northern border with Serbia on Friday.  The move is the latest in a series of operations and legal manoeuvres aimed at dismantling the so-called parallel system of social services and political offices backed by the Serbian government inside Kosovo.  “The parallel illegal institutions of local self-government, which operated…