Kosovo’s parliament speaker ejects ethnic Serb lawmakers because of their truancy

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s parliament speaker has ejected several lawmakers of the ethnic Serb minority from the chamber because of their several recent absences. The move could spark new frictions in the tense relations with neighboring Serbia. Speaker Glauk Konjufca on Thursday accused the nine Srpska List party lawmakers of being provocative and misusing taxpayers’ money by showing up only “once every six months.” Konjufca accused the lawmakers of working against Kosovo and reporting regularly to Milan Radoicic, a politician and wealthy businessman with ties to Serbia’s ruling populist party and President Aleksandar Vucic. The nine lawmakers then left the hall, and journalists were unable to reach them afterward for comments.