Kosovo leader urges opposition to end street protests

(PRISTINA) - Kosovo prime minister Hashim Thaci on Tuesday called on the nationalist opposition to halt its street protests against talks with Serbia after a demonstration in Pristina turned violent and left two dozen people wounded.

Thaci called on Albin Kurti, the leader of the nationalist Self-Determination Movement that organised Monday's protest, "to return to parliament and not threaten (government) institutions with anarchy."

Police used tear gas against some stone-throwing protesters in Monday's demonstration. Twenty-three people, most of them policemen, were injured, while 63 people including several MPs were arrested.

Self-Determination, Kosovo's third-biggest political party, staged another two-hour demonstration on Tuesday after Thaci spoke, but no incidents were reported.

Self-Determination, which opposes any form of dialogue with long-time foe Serbia, staged the protests after a majority in Kosovo's parliament voted last week to give Thaci's government a mandate to lead EU-brokered talks with Belgrade.

"Any talks with Serbia are talks where Kosovo loses and Serbia wins," Kurti told protesters Tuesday. "The talks open a path for Serbia towards the European Union while Kosovo stays back."

Thaci earlier accused Kurti of "taking an issue to the streets that he has already lost in parliament".

Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, is recognised by some 90 states, including the United States and 22 of the European Union's 27 members.

But Belgrade and Kosovo's Serb minority still consider the territory a southern Serbian province.

After a long pause following Serbian elections in May, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic met Thaci in Brussels on Friday as a first step towards restarting talks to normalise relations and ease tensions in the Balkan region.

Serbia is an EU candidate and Kosovo hopes to formalise ties with the bloc, but Brussels has made clear to both that they must resume talks and show concrete results.