(ANSA-AFP) - BELGRADE, JAN 15 - Kosovo authorities on
Wednesday raided 10 Belgrade-backed municipal offices in ethnic
Serb areas, according to the interior ministry, just weeks ahead
of parliamentary elections. The move is the latest in a series
of operations and legal manoeuvres aimed at dismantling the
so-called parallel system of social services and political
offices backed by the Serbian government inside Kosovo. "The era
of parallel and criminal municipalities and institutions of
Serbia in the Republic of Kosovo ends," said interior minister
Xhelal Svecla in a Facebook post, where he listed the locations
of the offices closed, including one in the capital Pristina.
The minister said that Serbian post offices and banks were also
shuttered during the operation. "As we have pledged, we will not
allow any parallelism, let alone criminal, of Serbia to violate
the Constitution and the rule of law in our country," the
minister added. The move comes with ethnic tension high in
Kosovo ahead of February's parliamentary elections. (ANSA-AFP).
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