During Thursday’s plenary session of the Assembly of Kosovo, Prime Minister Albin Kurti faced attacks from MPs belonging to the opposition party PDK, with several ministers from the opposition also joining the altercation.

As Prime Minister Kurti was speaking, heckling from the opposition was heard, with some calling the PM a liar.

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi initially removed and tore a photo-montage of the prime minister with an elongated ‘Pinocchio’ nose that had been placed in the pulpit by the opposition. In response, PDK Deputy Mërgim Lushtaku threw water in the direction of PM Albin Kurti while he was delivering his speech.

This led to a reaction from other deputies, resulting in a chaotic situation near the pulpit. Kurti’s security team entered the Assembly hall, and Speaker of the Parliament Glauk Konjufca called on the Police to intervene. The live broadcast from the Assembly of Kosovo was interrupted after the clashes.

Despite the interruption, Kurti remained in the Assembly hall. The police surrounded the Parliament building afterward, and the media were not allowed to enter.

Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, condemned the physical altercation that took place during the plenary session.

“The use of violence in this way is unacceptable to all of us, and I believe it is the responsibility of law enforcement agencies to address any physical attacks that occurred,” stated Konjufca.

“My reaction was against Radoicic and his servants,” wrote MP Lushtaku on Facebook, after the chaos was finished. 

“Today in the Assembly of Kosovo, the outstretched hand of those who do not want Kosovo’s citizenship, democracy and law, tried to become a fist”, wrote the ruling party, Vetevendosje. 

“This attack came as a coordinated action between different branches of the same gang: some of them call themselves MPs, some call themselves journalists, and some protestors. But Kosovo will move forward in consolidating its citizenship, despite such attacks,” continued Vetevendosje’s reaction. 

This tense situation comes days after Kosovo media published audio recordings of Mimoza Kusari-Lila, head of the parliamentary group of the Vetëvendosje Movement, speaking to former MP of the Serbian List, Slavko Simic. In the conversation, Kusari-Lila admitted to having a conversation with the vice president of the Serbian List, Milan Radoicic.

In the conversation between Kusari-Lila and former deputy Slavko Simic, they also discussed war veterans, which led to warnings of protests by the Organization of Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Milan Radoicic, vice president of the Serbian List, is wanted by the Kosovo authorities and is also on the US blacklist for involvement in international organized crime. Radoicic had an arrest warrant under suspicion of involvement in the murder of Serbian politician Oliver Ivanovic in January 2018, but the warrant was withdrawn in March 2021. He is wanted by Kosovo under suspicion of being involved in witness intimidation in the court case known as “Brezovica”.