Kosovo Parliament Hit by More Tear Gas, Protests

MPs from the opposition Vetevendosje (Self-Determination Movement) released tear gas in the parliamentary chamber around midnight on Friday forcing lawmakers to evacuate.

The midnight session of parliament was initially set for the afternoon and delayed after opposition MPs set off tear gas in the chamber. Tear gas was also released in front of the parliamentary speaker's office just before the start of Friday's session.

In front of parliament on Friday evening, severals hundred protesters gathered to express anger at Kosovo's recent agreement with Serbia. Video footage showed heavy police presence in front of the building and protesters hurling molotov cocktails at police and burning car tyres in the streets.

According to reports, seven people have been arrested.

These were the latest in a series of violent incidents in Kosovo sparked by the opposition parties' anger at the recent agreement between Pristina and Belgrade.

This was the third time in a month that opposition MPs have managed to block the work of parliament by hurling tear gas.

"We are determined and will not yield until they [the government] annul the agreement," Vetevendosje MP Glauk Konjufca told media.

Vetevendosje also accused parliament speaker Kadri Veseli of "barricading" the legislature because special police units were deployed outside the building in an attempt to prevent any repeat of the previous incidents.

The August 25 agreement between Pristina and Belgrade envisages the establishment of an association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo to champion minority Serbs' interests.

The three opposition parties in Kosovo's parliament strongly oppose the association, claiming it will give Serbs too much power....