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A brawl erupted in the Kosovo parliament Thursday after an opposition lawmaker threw water from a bottle on Prime Minister Albin Kurti during a speech.
In video footage from the incident, a member of parliament can be seen walking up to Kurti, water bottle in hand, while the prime minister is addressing the room from the podium.
The MP, identified as Mergim Lushtaku from the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo by local media, goes on to splash water in Kurti’s face and that of his deputy, Besnik Beslimi, triggering a brawl as ministers and other MPs jumped in to restrain Lushtaku.
According to local news website Kallxo, the row began after opposition MPs placed a picture showing the prime minister with an elongated, Pinocchio-like nose in front of the podium before Kurti’s speech. Beslimi had removed and torn up the picture while Kurti was speaking.
Local media reported that Kurti was escorted out of the hall.
The cause of the latest disagreement is the episodes of violence in northern Kosovo after the installation of ethnic Albanian mayors in the wake of April mayoral elections that the local Serb majority sat out. Kosovo opposition parties have criticized Kurti’s policies for leading to the unrest, according to the AP.
Kurti was giving a speech detailing measures to ease tensions with ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo.
Opposition MPs have used similar tactics on several occasions in recent years. Twice in 2018, they set off tear gas in parliament to impede MPs’ deliberations.
