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The US embassy in Belgrade was in flames tonight as a huge anti-Kosovo independence rally turned violent.
As many as 200,000 Serbs gathered in central Belgrade before a group of masked protesters broke into the embassy compound, ripped down an American flag and set fire to the ground floor and a side building.
Armoured vehicles fired tear gas to disperse crowds who were furious that the US and many EU countries have recognised Kosovo’s unilateral decision to breakaway from Serbia.
Attention switched to the unguarded US embassy, which has been closed this week, following a rally lead by the Serbian Prime Minister in the capital.
“As long as we live, Kosovo is Serbia,” Vojislav Kostunica told the crowd in front of the old Yugoslav parliament building.
A protester in front of the blazing US embassy in Belgrade, Serbia
“We’re not alone in our fight. President Putin is with us,” the Prime Minister said, paying tribute to the Russian leader who has opposed US and European states’ recognition of Kosovo.
“We’ll never give up Kosovo, never!” protesters chanted back, as they waved national flags. A huge banner reading “Kosovo is Serbia” draped the front of the parliament building.
A few people waved the flags of Russia and of Spain, which also refused to recognise Pristina’s secession on Sunday.
Police estimated 150,000 people packed the square, with columns of at least 10,000 more demonstrators filling up nearby boulevards. Eye witnesses reported big crowds elsewhere in the city.
The rally was Serbia’s biggest since protesters gathered outside the same parliament building to oust nationalist autocrat Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000.
In the crowds were many hard-line football hooligans and nationalist Radicals from Serbia’s biggest party, who shouted anti-Albanian slogans.
“Today Kosovo is in all our hearts,” their leader Tomislav Nikolic told the rally.
The rally came as several hundred former Serbian army reservists stormed a crossing post on the border with Kosovo. New border posts have come under sustained attack and been set alight since Pristina’s announcement at the weekend.
Italy today became the latest country to recognise the independence of the breakaway Serbian province.
By Nico Hines and agencies in Belgrade
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3412399.ece
As many as 200,000 Serbs gathered in central Belgrade before a group of masked protesters broke into the embassy compound, ripped down an American flag and set fire to the ground floor and a side building.
Armoured vehicles fired tear gas to disperse crowds who were furious that the US and many EU countries have recognised Kosovo’s unilateral decision to breakaway from Serbia.
Attention switched to the unguarded US embassy, which has been closed this week, following a rally lead by the Serbian Prime Minister in the capital.
“As long as we live, Kosovo is Serbia,” Vojislav Kostunica told the crowd in front of the old Yugoslav parliament building.
A protester in front of the blazing US embassy in Belgrade, Serbia
“We’re not alone in our fight. President Putin is with us,” the Prime Minister said, paying tribute to the Russian leader who has opposed US and European states’ recognition of Kosovo.
“We’ll never give up Kosovo, never!” protesters chanted back, as they waved national flags. A huge banner reading “Kosovo is Serbia” draped the front of the parliament building.
A few people waved the flags of Russia and of Spain, which also refused to recognise Pristina’s secession on Sunday.
Police estimated 150,000 people packed the square, with columns of at least 10,000 more demonstrators filling up nearby boulevards. Eye witnesses reported big crowds elsewhere in the city.
The rally was Serbia’s biggest since protesters gathered outside the same parliament building to oust nationalist autocrat Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000.
In the crowds were many hard-line football hooligans and nationalist Radicals from Serbia’s biggest party, who shouted anti-Albanian slogans.
“Today Kosovo is in all our hearts,” their leader Tomislav Nikolic told the rally.
The rally came as several hundred former Serbian army reservists stormed a crossing post on the border with Kosovo. New border posts have come under sustained attack and been set alight since Pristina’s announcement at the weekend.
Italy today became the latest country to recognise the independence of the breakaway Serbian province.
By Nico Hines and agencies in Belgrade
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3412399.ece
