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Kosovo: Quint boycotts liberation day reception

Irritation over Pristina policy in crisis in north

Redazione Ansa

(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 12 GIU - Quint (U.S., Germany, France, Britain and Italy) ambassadors boycotted in the evening a reception organized in Pristina by Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti to mark 'Liberation Day.' An anniversary that the Kosovo leadership celebrates on June 12, the day on which in 1999 - after 78 days of NATO bombing of Serbia and the end of the war - NATO (KFOR) troops, nearly 40,000 strong, entered Kosovo. Three days earlier in Kumanovo, North Macedonia, the peace agreement was signed by which then-Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic withdrew troops from Kosovo. Media in Pristina reported that only the ambassadors of Switzerland and Saudi Arabia were present at tonight's reception. Also absent were representatives of opposition parties. Most likely reason for the Western boycott was irritation with the Pristina leadership's policy in the crisis in northern Kosovo, heedless of the Quint's repeated calls for a rapid de-escalation of inter-ethnic tensions, and calls to proceed with the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo. (ANSA).

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