Kosovo court releases 7 opposition MPs from detention

PRISTINA, Kosovo – A Kosovo court has released from arrest seven opposition lawmakers who used tear gas to prevent a vote on border demarcation deal with Montenegro two days earlier.

The Pristina court on Friday reasoned that they did not threaten to flee or repeat the crime. The charges of weaponry use have not been dropped.

In Wednesday’s extraordinary session, the governing majority secured the minimum two-thirds support of the 120 seats to ratify the deal, a precondition for Kosovo’s citizens to travel without visas in Europe’s the Schengen travel zone.

The opposition Self-Determination party says Kosovo will lose territory under the 2015 agreement. The previous government and international experts deny that.

Montenegro, which had approved the deal, recognizes Kosovo’s 2008 independence from Serbia, which Belgrade still rejects.