Kosovo's representatives will not attend the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm this year because one of the recipients is controversial Austrian writer Peter Handke, a vocal supporter of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, Kosovo Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli announced on Facebook on Saturday.

“I can confirm that our ambassador Shkendija Geci-Sherifi will boycott the event because of the controversial Nobel Prize winner Peter Handke, a friend and supporter of Milosevic’s policy. I also expect that the Albanian ambassador will do the same,” Pacolli wrote.

Handke’s award has sparked a series of reactions across the region. Protests took place over the issue in front of the Swedish Embassy in Pristina.

Bosnians, survivors and loved ones of those who were killed in the massacred that took place in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995, protested as well. They accused Handke of, among other things, denying the Srebrenica Genocide.

A large protest was also announced to take place in Stockholm on December 10, during the award ceremony.