Opposition MP tear gases Kosovar parliament again

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – An opposition MP opened a tear gas canister inside the parliament in Kosovo Tuesday during a discussion about a draft law on the reorganization of the Montenegrin border.

Opposition deputies believe the new law would result in a loss of about 8,000 hectares of Kosovo's land to Montenegro.

The Foreign Affairs Committee was discussing the law when an opposition MP opened a tear gas canister.

The opposition has repeatedly said they would prevent the draft law from being submitted in the parliament. However, a voting session over the draft law is expected to be scheduled in the parliament nonetheless.

This is the third such incident at the hands of Kosovar opposition.

On September 22, opposition MPs pelted Prime Minister Isa Mustafa with eggs when he insisted that agreements with Serbia were in full compliance with Kosovo’s constitution.

In August, Serbia and Kosovo signed four agreements over the establishment of an association of Serb-majority municipalities.

This decision, in predominantly Albanian Kosovo, has been strongly denounced by opposition political parties.

They argue that this would lead to what they call the ‘Bosniazation’ of Kosovo, and thus create a dysfunctional country.

The Movement for Self-determination, the biggest opposition party in Kosovo, referring to official data, said this bloc of Serb councils will have about 30 percent of Kosovo’s territory, while serving only 74,000 people -- less than five percent of the population.

Also, in October a tear gas was also thrown inside Kosovo’s parliament chamber. The MPs had managed to throw the tear gas just three minutes from the start of a session in protest against EU-brokered agreements between Kosovo and Serbia.

Kosovo is a former Serbian province populated by nearly 1.8 million people, over 90 percent of whom are Kosovar Albanians.

It declared independence on February 17, 2008, and is recognized by over 100 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and Turkey.

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