Life in Kosovska Mitrovica normalizes, as criticism mounts against Unmik’s action
Daily life in northern Kosovska Mitrovica regained normality on Wednesday and Thursday, as schools, shops and institutions reopened and traffic blocks were removed.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, March 20, 2008
However, in the aftermath of Monday's violence, criticism mounted against Unmik's storming of the courthouse and arrest of Serb protesters, which provoked the widespread riots.
Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe Erhard Busek criticized Unmik and Kfor for choosing the anniversary of the March 17, 2004 anti-Serb violence to stage an action against Serb protesters.
"Deciding to storm the courthouse on the very day of the fourth anniversary of the violence in which thousands of Serbs were displaced was not smart", Busek said.
Sources in Pristina have claimed that the regional UN administrator for Kosovska Mitrovica Gerard Galucci offered his resignation after Monday's attacks because he did not share the views with the Unmik headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica.
Unmik could not confirm the reports.
The controversy regarding Unmik's action has also reached the UN headquarters in New York.
One of the key questions remains whether someone in New York ordered Unmik's action or whether it was only a decision taken by the UN police commissionner Larry Wilson and approved by Unmik's deputy chief Larry Rossin.
One Unmik policeman and over 130 people were injured in the aftermath of Unmik's intervention.
