Kosovo has strengthened control of its border with Serbia after Serbian forces arrested three Kosovo policemen, Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti said yesterday and demanded their immediate release.
Kosovo police accused Serbian forces of abducting three police officers at noon on June 14 while they were on patrol in the town of Tresave/Bare, in the municipality of Leposavic, on the border line of Kosovo. Official Belgrade claims that the incident took place more than a kilometer inside the territory of central Serbia. The two sides exchanged accusations of illegal border crossing.
Kurti said that three police officers were kidnapped and called on the international community to condemn that act as an "aggression of Serbia", as well as to put pressure on official Belgrade.
"It was an aggression against our democratic state. Revenge on the police fighting crime and intent on escalation and destabilization, since we proposed a five-point plan for de-escalation and normalization," Kurti said after the session of the Kosovo Security Council held yesterday morning.
The US State Department announced that both Kosovo and Serbia must take immediate steps to calm tensions, which includes the unconditional release of three Kosovo police officers.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said yesterday that the situation in Kosovo is "horribly difficult, and that children aged 12 and 13 are ready to die because they are all fed up with Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti".
"I can't take it anymore physically. I can't sleep any night. Because unlike you, I know what happens every night in the north of Kosovo. Literally everything boils. Children of 12, 13 years old are ready to die, which we have to prevent. They are fed up with Kurti," Vučić said at a press conference after a meeting with Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar.
He said that he conveyed to the representatives of Quinte (USA, Italy, France, Germany and Britain) that Belgrade is ready to offer all the footage and evidence from which it would be clear that the three Kosovo police officers were arrested deep in the territory of central Serbia, and not in Kosovo . Vučić said that he offered recordings of all the activities of both the army and the police, because there is no reason to hide anything.
"We also offered the persons who carried out the arrest. Have them bring in their polygraph examiners and ask them two questions. Did they participate in the arrest and did the arrest take place in central Serbia or in Kosovo. No one refused," said Vučić.
He added that the Serbian security forces have never crossed the administrative line because they have such an order, and that it is also possible to check with KFOR.
Vučić said that he conveyed an appeal to the representatives of Quinta to "understand" Pristina and those Kosovo politicians who want conflict and to explain to them that it is better to have peace.
"And if not, what to do, we can't jump out of this skin. We will protect our people and protect our country," said Vučić.
He said that the Serbian authorities behave appropriately towards the Kosovo police officers and that, unlike the Serbs they detain, they are not "beaten and mistreated".
"I hope that there will be enough strength among the Americans and Europeans to influence those who would write the war in their biography and to explain to them that it is not good. We will strive for peace and do everything to preserve it," he said.
Bearing in mind that the situation on the ground is getting worse every day, I invited the highest representatives of Belgrade and Pristina to a meeting on resolving the crisis, Borel said.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo said that Serbia has threatened the border of Kosovo and that this forces the government to strengthen border controls.
"Depending on the analyzes and assessments of the security institutions, they may also include traffic stops in cases where it is estimated that they may pose a risk. Further actions will be taken based on the recommendations of the relevant institutions," Kurti said.
At the Merdara border crossing, the largest between Kosovo and Serbia, a long line formed yesterday morning following Kosovo's decision to ban trucks with Serbian license plates and goods from Serbia from entering its territory. At the Končulj and Debce administrative crossings near Preševo, passenger vehicles are allowed to enter Kosovo. Passenger traffic continued normally at the Jarinje and Merdara crossings, with increased control of vehicles and passengers, Beta reported.
Violence in the north of Kosovo flared up at the end of last month when 30 NATO peacekeepers and 52 Serbs were injured in clashes in four predominantly Serb municipalities.
Kurti described the silence of the international community as strange.
"Serbia has not changed its intentions, motives and appetites. Not that he surprises us with his behavior. What is strange is the silence and tolerance of international factors towards the actions of Serbia, which is constantly looking for excuses for escalation and destabilization. The abduction of three police officers is the clearest proof of that," Kurti said.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, invited the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo to talks in Brussels next week, regarding the latest tensions between the two sides.
"Given that the situation on the ground is worsening every day, I invited the highest representatives of Belgrade and Pristina to a meeting on resolving the crisis," Borel told reporters in Brussels, during a meeting of defense ministers of NATO members.
He said that he invited Vučić and Kurti to a meeting "for managing crisis situations".
The date of the meeting and other details of the meeting will be announced later.
The US State Department announced yesterday that both Kosovo and Serbia must take immediate steps to calm tensions, which includes the unconditional release of three Kosovo policemen.
"We believe that both Kosovo and Serbia must take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, as reported by Reuters.
The European Union said on Wednesday it had agreed on punitive measures against Kurti's government, accusing him of failing to take steps to defuse the crisis.
Punitive measures proposed by Borel to member states include the suspension of invitations to Kosovo's participation in high-level events, as well as bilateral visits from the EU and member states. It is also threatened with financial consequences, i.e. the suspension of financing of some projects proposed by Kosovo within the Investment Framework for the Western Balkans.
"Protests as protests"
The Slovenian journalist's question about the protests in Belgrade and the session of the Serbian Parliament caused a kind of polemic between Vučić and his Slovenian colleague Pirc Musar at the press conference.
Vučić said that he is very glad that this journalist is so interested in the political situation in Serbia, but that he will not criticize his political opponents in front of foreign media, Beta reported.
"And protests are like protests. I have had them for 11 years. With us, with the exception of calls for my murder, they are calm and that is important. Unlike the practice in the EU, where you kill the god in the protesters, like in Paris, this does not happen here," said Vučić.
This presentation forced the guest from Slovenia to react and, as she said, make a reply.
She said that demonstrations in every country are a legitimate and democratic act, and that journalists' interest in protests and events in Serbia, as well as reporting on them, represents freedom of expression.
"Democracy is also freedom of the media, and we need to work on that as well," said Pirc Musar.
Vučić said that he was grateful to the journalist for asking such a question.
"In our country, of course, the freedom of the media is such that every day I should answer whether I am Hitler or Mussolini. I don't want that level of freedom for you," N1 reported Vučić's answer.
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