Hashim Thaci elected new leader of Kosovo

The Assembly of Kosovo elected on Friday evening Hashim Thaci as the new leader of the region amid high tensions in and out of the assembly.

Thaci, current leader of the Democratic Party, was elected with 71 votes in favor in the region's 120-seated assembly, though the opposition boycotted the voting and tried to prevent the process.

Opposition lawmakers tried to interrupt the election process by throwing tear gas, while hundreds of opposition supporters clashed with special police outside the assembly. Eleven police officers reportedly got injured in the clashes, in which protesters used cocktail Molotov.

Hashim Thaci was elected "president" from the position of "deputy prime minister" of Kosovo.

He is the main voted leader since January 2007, but in last few years the opposition has strongly criticized him for the European Union-facilitated dialogue he led with Belgrade, and especially over last summer's agreement on Serb municipalities in Kosovo.

Since then the opposition radicalized their approach against the government and effectively paralyzed the political life in Kosovo, and in particular the assembly of Kosovo.

Thaci is expected to take office on April 7 when he will start his five-year mandate.

Kosovo is a southern province of Serbia, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008. Endit