Police use tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters blocking Kosovo parliament in Pristina
Twelve injured as demonstrators block parliament entrances; crisis deepens over Special Court law and the presidential vote.
Police in Pristina used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters who had blocked the entrances to Kosovo's parliament and prevented MPs from leaving the building, leaving twelve people injured, including one police officer.
The demonstrations, which have been held daily since the Special Court in The Hague handed down long prison sentences to leaders of the UÇK, escalated when protesters tried to physically bar exits from the parliamentary complex. Armoured vehicles were deployed on the streets, several waste containers were set ablaze, and groups of demonstrators threw pyrotechnic devices towards police, the parliament building and government offices.
Parliamentary standoff and political deadlock
The protests come amid a failure by Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK) to agree on amendments to the law on the Special Court in a second reading. DPK officials say Kurti tied the vote on the law to a deal on the presidency; the deadline for electing a president expires tomorrow. Kurti has insisted the court-law changes and the presidential question must be handled together.
Kurti said: "We need a law for the Court in The Hague, but we also need a president for Kosovo. One without the other can be very harmful."
If a president is not elected tomorrow, parliament will be dissolved and Kosovo will go to snap parliamentary elections within 45 days — which would mark a third national vote in just over a year.
Several members of parliament who tried to leave the building were reportedly forced back by the crowd. Local media reported that a Self-Determination MP, Fahrush Redžepi, was physically seized as he attempted to exit and returned to the chamber; another MP, Besnik Bisljimi, was escorted back inside under police protection after being prevented from leaving. Organisers at the protest warned MPs they would block any departures: "No MP will be able to leave without passing over our bodies. We will lie on the ground."
Photo: press material from the event
