Kosovo PM faces criticism over memorial message for slain Serbian politician

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Belgrade, Serbia

Hundreds of Kosovo Albanians demonstrated on Monday against Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s memorial message for a murdered Serbian politician.

Kurti’s message marking the fifth anniversary of Oliver Ivanovic’s death was protested by the children of martyrs of the former Kosovo Liberation Army outside the Prime Minister’s office in the capital Pristina.

Attendees chanted slogans against Kurti and held up banners reading: “History does not change”, “Prime Minister, do not provoke us” and “Do not glorify criminals”.

Kurti in his message said that he wants Oliver Ivanovic’s memory to live on.

The killing of Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb politician, on January 16, 2018 in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica has heightened tensions between ethnic Albanians and the region’s Serb minority.

He was murdered in a drive-by shooting.

The 64-year-old was one of the key politicians in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, a former Serbian province.

Ivanovic, who commanded Serbian paramilitary groups during the war in Kosovo, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2016 for crimes committed against Albanian civilians during the war. The Supreme Court overturned the decision in 2017 and ordered a new trial.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade insists the country remains part of Serbia. Since then, tensions have remained between Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority and a small Serb minority in the north.

It is recognized by over 100 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Turkey.

Serbia, Russia and China are among the countries that have not yet recognized Kosovo’s independence.

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