Canada's Serbian community protested against Kosovo's independence in Toronto Saturday, the first in a series of planned demonstrations in several Canadian cities over the next couple of weekends.
More than 2,000 protesters gathered at the downtown campus of the University of Toronto and rallied briefly before marching to the American consulate, where they held a candlelight demonstration, Canadian Television reported.
Waving Canadian and Serbian flags, demonstrators sang and spoke out against Kosovo's move to declare independence from Serbia. Protesters also voiced their displeasure with the United States for recognizing Kosovo as a country.
Rally organizer Bojan Ratkovic said Canada should not recognize Kosovo as a country, saying it may set a dangerous precedent.
"It's really against Canada's national interest, because we don't want Quebec separatists using the same precedent in five or 10 years for their own independence," Ratkovic said.
The demonstration, under the watch of a heavy police presence, was peaceful. The U.S. consulate was closed during the demonstration.
Serbian-Canadians are scheduled to protest in Montreal and Vancouver on Sunday and in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton next weekend. |
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