A fight broke out on July 13 during a session of Kosovo's parliament following the publication of wiretapped recordings involving the head of the ruling Vetevendosje parliamentary group, who admitted she had spoken with the wanted deputy head of the Serbian List party.
A fight broke out on July 13 during a session of Kosovo's parliament following the publication of wiretapped recordings involving the head of the ruling Vetevendosje parliamentary group, who admitted she had spoken with the wanted deputy head of the Serbian List party.
The brawl erupted after an opposition lawmaker threw water on Prime Minister Albin Kurti as he spoke about the controversy touched off by the release of the recordings.
The wiretapped conversations of Mimoza Kusari-Lila, head of Kurti's Vetevendosje, speaking with the Serbian List deputy head, Milan Radoicic, were released earlier this week.
Vetevendosje has often criticized people who have had contact with Radoicic, who has been designated for sanctions by the United States and is wanted by Kosovar judicial authorities.
Kurti was speaking to a plenary session of the National Assembly about Radoicic and how a warrant for his arrest was withdrawn in 2021 a few days before Kurti's government was formed when his speech was interrupted.
"When there were previous governments, this chief criminal was in Mitrovica, he was in Pristina. Now, our contribution is that he is in a hotel in Kopaonik, in Serbia," Kurti said.
Opposition lawmaker Mergim Lushtaku of the Democratic Party of Kosovo approached the lectern and threw water at Kurti and at Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, who had previously torn up a drawing mocking Kurti that the opposition had placed on the lectern in the legislative chamber.
As the melee ensued, several legislators moved toward the lectern, pushing and shoving each other and exchanging punches.
Kurti, surrounded by security and his ministers, was pushed and slammed into one of the assembly seats near the lectern. Police intervened to stop the brawl and stayed in the hall until the prime minister left....
Radoicic is wanted by Kosovar authorities over alleged witness intimidation and has also been designated for sanctions by the United States for alleged involvement in transnational organized crime.
Radoicic is also named in an indictment as the leader of the criminal group that planned the murder of Serbian politician Oliver Ivanovic. However, the warrant for his arrest was withdrawn in March 2021 without explanation.
The melee came a day after Kurti announced he would reduce the number of special police officers stationed outside four municipal buildings in ethnic Serb-majority areas in northern Kosovo and hold new mayoral elections in each of the towns.
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