2008 unrest in Kosovo

The 2008 unrest in Kosovo followed Kosovo's declaration of independence on February 17, 2008. Some Kosovo Serbs opposed to secession boycotted the move by refusing to follow orders from the central government in Pristina and attempted to seize infrastructure and border posts in Serb-populated regions. There were also sporadic instances of violence against international institutions and governmental institutions, predominantly in North Kosovo.

Tensions in the North intensified when Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica seized a UN courthouse on March 14, 2008. UN police and NATO forces responded on March 17, and attacks by Serb protesters left one UN police officer dead and as many as 150 people wounded. On June 28, Kosovo Serbs formed the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija to coordinate resistance to the Kosovan government.

Kosovo Serbs said they intended to form parallel institutions and assert control over infrastructure and institutions in their area in response to Kosovo's declaration of independence; after the local elections in May, Kosovo Serb leaders announced the intention to establish a Kosovo Serb Assembly. The Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo said they would not be in contact with Kosovo's Albanian government, EULEX, or any country which recognizes Kosovo's independence, threatening to sanction any clergy who do so.

A Serb minister said Serbia planned to have its "own police" in Serb areas as part of an action plan to maintain Serbia's presence in Kosovo. In North Kosovo some Serb members of Kosovo security forces stopped taking orders from the government in Pristina and claimed command from the UNMIK. In the eastern Gnjilane region around 100 Serb officers were suspended from the Kosovo Police Service. Stanko Jakovljević, Serb mayor of Štrpce, a Serb enclave in the south, said Serb police "will do today what Serbs ... did in northern Kosovo. They will only recognise orders from international police." In central Kosovo 126 Serb police officers withdrew from the Kosovo Police Service refusing to take commands from the central government. Members of the Kosovo Police Service said Serb officers were being intimidated to leave the police force.

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