CNN –
Kosovan President Vjosa Osmani condemned the brawl that broke out between MPs from the opposition and the ruling party in Kosovo’s parliament on Thursday, CNN’s N1 affiliate reported.
In a live video feed from the Kosovar Parliament, Prime Minister Albin Kurti was interrupted by opposition MPs and pelted with water after scuffles and scuffles broke out between the ruling Vetevendosje party and opposition MPs.
Kurti spoke of an easing of tensions in northern Kosovo, where violent clashes erupted in May when ethnic Serbs protested the installation of Albanian mayors.
A scuffle ensued between the deputies defending Kurti and those coming to the other side.
Glass was also heard breaking, and the video also heard Kosovo Assembly President Gljauk Konjufca calling the police.
The live transmission of this meeting was then interrupted.
Erkin Keci/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
While Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti is giving a speech, a fight ensues between the opposition and the ruling members of parliament.
Osmani said on Facebook that there was “no place” for such violence.
“The use of physical violence as a tool to address political discontent, difference or disagreement is the greatest harm that can be done to institutions built with so many victims,” she wrote, adding that “violence has no place in the temple of democracy.” has.” and cannot become a political instrument.”
“We must reaffirm our commitment to democracy, different thinking and mutual respect based on rules and compliance with the law,” she said.
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama also condemned the brawl.
“Imagine how the irreplaceable allies and friends of Kosovo and Albanians feel when they see Albanians grabbing each other’s throats instead of fighting with ideas and words, not insults and fists,” he said he and urged the opposition to distance themselves from what he said was shameful behavior.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after a war in which Kosovar Albanians attempted to break away from what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, made up of modern-day Serbia and Montenegro. Serbia regards Kosovo as a breakaway state and does not recognize its independence.
Most of Kosovo’s population is ethnic Albanian, but in some areas of the troubled north, ethnic Serbs are in the majority and are increasingly demanding more autonomy.