Hungarian soldiers serving in the NATO peacekeeping force were deployed for crowd control tasks in the town of Zvečan, Kosovo. According to the latest available information, more than 20 Hungarian soldiers were injured during the clash, seven of them seriously, alongside soldiers from other countries. Their conditions are stable, as stated by Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky on his Facebook page.
The clashes began on Friday and continued on Monday morning as a result of ongoing unrest following recent elections where ethnic Albanian politicians won mayorships.
Confrontations broke out between ethnic Serbian protesters taking to the street and the police near the municipal offices of three towns. The Kosovo Force (KFOR), operating under NATO command, was deployed to the affected areas to prevent the situation from escalating. Hungarian KFOR soldiers were also injured in the clashes that erupted between protesters and peacekeeping forces in Zvečan, as reported by HVG initially, citing diplomatic sources. According to the report, gunshots were heard, tear gas was deployed by the KFOR troops, while rioters threw stones and bottles.
A disturbing video of the injured KFOR soldiers during the riots was published by Szabad Európa. The footage shows local Serbs striking and throwing objects at the peacekeepers lined up behind NATO shields. Several injured soldiers can be seen lying on the ground behind the barricade.
A Hungarian soldier can be heard saying, ‘I’ve been injured,’ in Hungarian, calling for help. According to Reuters, several Serbian protesters in Zvečan sprayed the letter Z, which has become a symbol of the Russian forces invading Ukraine, onto NATO vehicles. In Leposavić, closer to the Serbian border, American peacekeepers erected barbed wire in front of the municipal building to keep away hundreds of angry Serbian protesters. Later, eggs were thrown at the car of the newly elected mayor of Albanian descent. In Zubin Potok, KFOR soldiers assisted the police in surrounding the municipal office.
The injured Hungarian soldiers will be transported by air to Hungary
for further treatment, as announced by the Minister of Defence. It was later announced that on Monday evening, the Hungarian Armed Forces’ Airbus aircraft specially equipped for healthcare, carrying military doctors and the Deputy Chief of General Staff, departed from Kecskemét to Kosovo. Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó wrote that the Hungarian ambassador in Pristina had visited the four Hungarian soldiers who require treatment for shrapnel injuries. One of them had to undergo surgery, but none of them are in life-threatening condition.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated on Friday that, in his opinion, the police acted violently against the Kosovo Serbs, and he requested the intervention of NATO mission forces. He also announced that he had placed the Serbian Armed Forces in the highest state of combat readiness and ordered certain units to move towards the Serbian-Kosovo border in order to intervene if necessary. Defence Minister Miloš Vučević confirmed on Monday that Vučić had in fact placed the Serbian armed forces on the highest level of preparedness.
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