France’s sports activities minister condemned Novak Djokovic on Wednesday after he wrote a message saying Kosovo was on the “coronary heart of Serbia” following his victory in the opening round of Roland Garros.

The Belgrade-born tennis superstar scrawled “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence” on a digital camera on Monday in Paris amid clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs within the territory.

Kosovo, largely populated by Muslim ethnic Albanians, broke away from the then-Yugoslavia within the late Nineties and declared independence in 2008, in a transfer that has by no means been accepted by neighbouring Christian-majority Serbia or its ally Russia.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera informed broadcaster France 2 that Djokovic’s message was “not applicable, clearly”.

“There’s a principle of neutrality for the field of play. When you carry messages about defending human rights, messages that bring peoples together around universal values, a sportsperson is free to express them.

“But in this case it was a message that is very activist, that is very political. You shouldn’t get involved, especially in the current circumstances, and it shouldn’t happen again,” added Oudea-Castera, who’s the previous head of the French tennis federation.

She added that the director of Roland Garros had spoken to Djokovic and his entourage.

Thirty peacekeepers from a NATO-led drive in Kosovo had been injured in clashes with ethnic Serb demonstrators on Monday throughout protests in regards to the set up of ethnic Albanian mayors in northern Kosovo.

With tensions working excessive, the European Union and different Western nations have referred to as for calm.

Djokovic, ranked quantity three on the earth, has defended his message.

“Kosovo is our cradle, our stronghold, centre of a very powerful issues for our nation… There are many the explanation why I wrote that on the digital camera,” the 36-year-old told Serb media at the tournament.

“Of course it hurts me very much as a Serb to see what is happening in Kosovo and the way our people have been practically expelled from the municipal offices, so the least I could do was this,” added Djokovic, whose father was born in Kosovo.