PRISTINA (Kosovo), March 27 (SeeNews) – Serb List, the ethnic Serbs party in Kosovo's parliament, said it will leave the ruling coalition after the deportation of a senior Serbian government official late on Monday, questioning the future of the cabinet led by Ramush Haradinaj.
"After this abuse and demonstration of force, the leadership of the Serb List held an urgent meeting where we adopted an initiative to leave the government in Pristina," the Serb List said in a statement late on Monday.
Without the support of the nine MPs of the Serb List, the government led by Haradinaj would lose its majority in parliament as it would be backed by only 55 of all 120 deputies.
On Monday the Kosovo police said it arrested and deported the head of Serbia's government office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, for entering Kosovo territory without permission on Monday.
The arrest was slammed by Belgrade, with Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic describing it as a "brutal provocation” and a “criminal act".
Last week, the European Union (EU) said no progress was achieved during the meeting of Serbian and Kosovo government representatives within the EU facilitated dialogue for the normalisation of ties. The meeting focused on the establishment of a community of Serb municipalities in Kosovo, energy issues, the construction of a new bridge in Mitrovica, freedom of movement and integrated management of border crossings.
The Kosovo authorities refuse to implement the provisions of the Brussels agreement on the formation of a community of Serb municipalities in Kosovo, the general secretary of Serbia's president's office, Nikola Selakovic, said in a statement issued by Serbia's government office for Kosovo and Metohija late on Monday.
Djuric is also head of the Serbian negotiation team at the normalisation talks with Kosovo.
Commenting in a statement on the prospects for the continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on the normalisation of ties, Vucic said that "it is absurd to talk about it today."
According to Kosovo-based media reports on Monday, the country's president Hashim Thaci has approved the launch of preparatory work on the establishment of the community of Serb municipalities. The works would start on March 26, newspaper Koha Ditore quoted Thaci's political adviser Bekim Collaku as saying.
Belgrade does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, Serbia's former southern province predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians. Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008.