Kosovo shuts down 5 Serbian governing structures in the north and US reacts with alarm

Associated Press

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo authorities have closed the ethnic Serb minority’s so-called parallel institutions in five northern municipalities. The move was immediately denounced by the United States and may further raise tensions with neighboring Serbia. Elbert Krasniqi, Kosovo’s minister of local administration, confirmed the closure of five so-called parallel institutions in the north — where most of the ethnic Serb minority lives — writing in a Facebook message that they “violate the Republic of Kosovo’s constitution and laws.” The U.S. embassy in Kosovo reiterated in a statement Washington’s “concern and disappointment with continuing uncoordinated actions” taken by Pristina.