The turmoil over selecting a Speaker of the House to replace John Boehner seems positively tranquil compared to the debate over Serbian relations in the parliament of Kosovo. Someone decided to filibuster these talks by throwing tear gas grenades in the middle of a parliamentary session, causing two MPs to pass out.
In the U.S. Congress, the filibuster weapon of choice is green eggs and ham. Actually, in this case, the tear gas is an escalation from eggs, which were flung at the prime minister by opposition members of parliament during a session broadcast on live television:
According to the UK Telegraph, the gas bombs were deployed by the opposition Self-Determination Party, in a bid to “shut down parliament following an agreement brokered by the European Union earlier in August to improve relations between Kosovo and Serbia.”
The agreement is said by the BBC to grant more power to the Serb areas of Kosovo, so it’s bitterly opposed by ethnic Albanians, who began an armed revolt against Serbian domination in 1999 and declared independence in 2008.
The government of Kosovo has denounced the opposition’s disruptive actions as “beyond the bounds of institutional and democratic behavior.”
One opposition party leader responded by saying the government could expect to see “even bigger actions than throwing tear gas” and promised that two MPs passing out would be “no big deal” compared to what was in store.
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