Kosovo MPs in Tear Gas Protest -- for Third Session Running
Kosovo's angry opposition paralyzed the functioning of parliament again Friday by releasing tear gas for the third session running, in a bid to get agreements made with Serbia overturned.
The chamber filled with smoke and the parliamentary speaker was forced to suspend the session after an opposition MP opened a tear gas canister, said an AFP reporter at the scene.
"We will do anything to block the work of the parliament," said Glauk Konjufca, deputy president of the Self-Determination party, which leads the opposition bloc.
"The government is provoking a crisis by insisting on calling sessions. This only further escalates the situation."
The opposition is protesting against EU-brokered dialogue and agreements with Serbia, particularly a plan to set up an association of Serb-run municipalities giving greater autonomy to Kosovo's Serb minority.
The opposition says the move will deepen the ethnic divide and increase Serbia's power in Kosovo.
It also rejects a border agreement reached with neighboring Montenegro in Vienna in August, through which it says Kosovo is losing territory.
Kosovo, whose population is predominantly ethnic Albanian, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade does not recognize the move.
The latest protest came a day after the European Union (EU) said it will sign a long-awaited accord next week with Kosovo on closer ties which could open the way to its membership of the bloc.
Opposition MPs smuggled canisters into parliament Friday despite tight security aimed at preventing the anarchic scenes of recent weeks, which have been condemned by the government and international observers in Kosovo.
The protesters have also blown whistles and thrown eggs to disrupt recent sessions.
Before releasing tear gas in parliament, opposition MPs had also opened a canister near the office of the assembly president, postponing the start of Friday's session.
Kosovo and Serbia were at war in 1998-1999, which ended after Serbian armed forces withdrew from the territory following an 11-week NATO bombing campaign.
The public prosecutor's office said last week that it had started investigations against two members of the Self-Determination party over allegations of causing danger and using weapons in relation the first tear gas incident.
Source: Agence France Presse
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