Moment furious mass brawl breaks out in Kosovo’s parliament with MPs punching each other
Moment when a furious mass brawl breaks out in Kosovo’s parliament with MPs throwing punches… during debate on easing tensions in the country
- Mergim Lushtaku’s MP threw water at Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti
- It sparked a mass brawl of MPs grabbing, shoving and beating each other
This is the shocking moment when a furious brawl broke out in Kosovo’s parliament after an opposition lawmaker threw water on the country’s prime minister.
In the video, Mergim Lushtaku, of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, approaches Prime Minister Albin Kurti and pours water on him as he speaks of measures to ease tensions with ethnic Serbs in the north of the country.
Dozens of MPs then rush to the lectern and a brawl ensues, with legislators fighting, shoving and beating each other.
It comes as opposition parties have criticized Kurti’s policies in northern Kosovo, which they say have strained relations with Western allies.
In May, the Kosovo government placed Albanian mayors in municipal buildings in Zveçan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic, sparking violent protests from the ethnic Serb majority – who have a historically tense relationship with Albanians.
In the video, Mergim Lushtaku, from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, approaches Mr Kurti and throws water on him (pictured)
Dozens of people were injured in clashes between local Serbian and Kosovo police and NATO-led peacekeepers, sparking fears of a similar conflict to the 1998-1999 one that left more than 10,000 dead.
On Wednesday, Kurti announced that he would reduce the number of special police officers stationed outside four municipal buildings in the ethnic Serb-majority areas of northern Kosovo and hold new mayoral elections in each of the cities.
But the move has angered the opposition, which claimed Kurti had been “experimenting” for months, endangering Kosovo’s international position.
Earlier, Kurti’s deputy, Besnik Beslimi, had torn up a mocking drawing of Kurti that the opposition had given to the prime minister. According to local media, Mr Kurti was escorted from the meeting room during the chaos.
The US and EU had urged him to keep mayors in several locations away from the north until the situation is resolved.
Kosovo is a former province in Serbia from which Belgrade does not recognize its 2008 declaration of independence.
Dozens of MPs then run to the lectern and a brawl ensues, with lawmakers fighting, shoving and beating each other
It comes as opposition parties have criticized Mr Kurti’s policies in northern Kosovo, which they claim has strained relations with Western allies.
The move has angered the opposition, which claimed that Kurti had been “experimenting” for months, endangering Kosovo’s international position.
According to local media, Mr Kurti was escorted from the meeting room during the chaos
Most ethnic Serbs in Kosovo have also refused to recognize the state of Kosovo, which is supported by the United States and most EU countries, but not by Russia and China.
Serbia had raised its army’s combat readiness and threatened military intervention in response to tensions in the north, which borders Serbia.
Belgrade withdrew from Kosovo in 1999 after NATO bombed the country to stop the attack on ethnic Albanian separatists.
The EU has told both countries that they must come to a resolution to their dispute through an EU-mediated dialogue in order to join the bloc.
Western officials have stepped up efforts to bring the two sides closer together, fearing further instability in Europe as the war in Ukraine continues.
NATO has sent additional troops to its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo to increase security.