US, allies condemn Kosovo after clash with Serb protesters

The US and top European allies have condemned Kosovo's government following clashes between police and ethnic Serbs that erupted when protesters tried to block ethnic Albanian mayors from reaching their offices in the north of the country.

Kosovo police used tear gas to disperse the crowds, which included demonstrators opposed to the officials taking office following local elections in April that the ethnic Serb community boycotted and called invalid.

It was the worst escalation in tensions in 2023 between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority and the minority Serbs.

The flare-up imperils a European Union-brokered, US-supported plan for the Balkan neighbours to normalise relations, which have threatened to spiral again into violence since Kosovo broke away from Serbia after they fought a war from 1998 to 1999.

In an unusually sharply worded statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the authorities for accessing the buildings "by force" and said they had done so "against the advice of the United States and Kosovo's European partners".