PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A powerful explosion damaged a water canal and temporarily cut water and power supply to Kosovo’s cities, the prime minister said Saturday, blaming groups supported by Serbia.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the explosion on Friday in Vrage, 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of capital Pristina, disrupted water supply to some cities and main power plants. It followed two other explosions in previous days on buildings of a police station and local authorities in the same area in the north of the country, mostly populated by the ethnic Serb minority.
Kurti blamed “official Belgrade and its criminal structures led by Milan Radoicic, supported by Serb institutions and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic.”
Radoicic, a politician and wealthy businessman with ties to Serbia’s ruling populist party and Vucic, was among 45 people charged in Kosovo in connection with a gunfight last year in which a Kosovar police officer was killed following an incursion by heavily armed Serb gunmen.
Only three Serbs have been arrested and the others are at large, including Radoicic, who Pristina says is protected by Belgrade.
Serbia’s Foreign Minister Marko Djuric condemned Friday’s explosion but also criticized Kurti’s “ethnonationalist regime” rushing “to point fingers at Belgrade without evidence.”
“We believe that such premature accusations are a deliberate diversion,” said Djuric. “These baseless allegations undermine efforts for constructive dialogue and serve only to escalate tensions in an already delicate situation.”
The European Union and the United States strongly denounced the explosion and demanded that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
“These violent actions have no place in a democratic society, and those responsible for these criminal attacks against the legitimate authorities of the Republic of Kosovo should be held accountable,” the U.S. Embassy in Pristina said.
Kosovo-Serbia relations remain tense despite efforts by the international community to normalize them.
Kosovo was a Serbian province until NATO’s 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which left about 13,000 dead, mainly ethnic Albanians, and pushed Serbian forces out. Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008 which is not recognized by Belgrade.
Brussels and Washington are urging both sides to implement agreements that Vucic and Kurti reached in February and March last year. They include a commitment by Kosovo to establish an Association of the Serb-Majority Municipalities. Serbia is also expected to deliver on the de-facto recognition of Kosovo, which Belgrade still considers its province.
The NATO-led international peacekeepers known as KFOR have increased their presence in Kosovo after last year’s tensions.
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Semini reported from Tirana, Albania. Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.
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