Serbian PM condemns continued attacks on Albanians after football row

Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Friday condemned a spate of attacks on Albanian-owned businesses in the three days since a football match between the two countries descended into a brawl, but said he had not yet decided whether to let his Albanian counterpart go ahead with a visit to Belgrade next week. A diplomatic row over Tuesday’s abandoned game is threatening to derail the trip by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, seen as a chance to reset ties after a long history of tensions between the Balkan countries.

I am calling on Serbs … not to act irresponsibly. Our obligation is to demonstrate the difference between us and them, to show we are more serious, more responsible, that we respect the rights of national minorities and human rights of all in our country.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic

Serbia and Albania have traded blame for the chaotic scenes that led to the abandonment of this week’s European Championship qualifying match shortly before half-time, when the score was 0-0. A remote-controlled aircraft appeared over the pitch trailing a flag of “Greater Albania”, triggering a fight between the players and a pitch invasion by several dozen Serbian fans. The game had already been marred by the crowd shouting threats to kill Albanians, using an ethnic slur. The two countries have exchanged accusations of ‘terrorism’ and ‘xenophobia’ and summoned each other’s ambassadors in Tirana and Belgrade.

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