Lawmakers in Kosovo have been evacuated from parliament after opposition politicians threw tear gas to prevent a vote on a controversial border bill.
Members of the Self-Determination Movement party release a teargas canister during a parliamentary session in Pristina, Kosovo Photo: AFP
MPs were about to vote on the demarcation agreement with Montenegro when three tear gas canisters were thrown. The chamber was then evacuated.
The bill would ratify a border agreement that critics argue unfairly secedes land to Montenegro.
The EU has made the bill a condition for Kosovo to gain visa-free travel.
Its Balkan neighbours - Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia - have all had visa-free travel in the EU since 2010.
The bill must be passed by 80 of the chamber's 120 MPs, but opposition members of the ultra-nationalist Self-Determination party say that Kosovo stands to lose 78 sq/km under the deal.
Responding to the incident, EU ambassador Nataliya Apostolova said she was shocked that "members of a parliament in Europe are resorting to dangerous tactics pulling Kosovo backwards".
Meanwhile, the US envoy to Kosovo Greg Delawie told reporters: "This should not be happening in a European country. Tear gas is not a European thing."
Many similar incidents have taken place in Kosovo's parliament chamber in recent years.
Since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008, most EU member states have recognised Kosovo as an independent country. Five, including Spain, have refused to do so.
- BBC