Due to the armed conflicts that took place on Sunday near the Banjska monastery, in which several people were killed and wounded, the biggest losers were the Serbs in the north of Kosovo, who, of the threatened minority, are now presented in the Western media "as a nation with terrorists among them". political analyst Cvijetin Milivojević believes.
Milivojević told the Beta agency that, along with Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti, whom Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić names as the culprit for those events, the other culprit is "this state, which through intentional or unintentional mistakes" has led to such a situation.
According to him, it cannot be said that Vučić is solely responsible for the situation in the north of Kosovo as it is now, but that in the 11 years of his rule, mistakes were made that lead to the "creeping recognition" of Kosovo's independence.
After the events in which at least four Kosovo Serbs were killed and one member of the Kosovo Police was killed, it is not clear whether the Serbian security and intelligence structures knew whether this action was being prepared.
The editor of the weekly "Vreme" Filip Švarm assessed that there is "some conspiracy of silence" about the armed conflict, and that the services in Serbia made a "serious security failure".
He told the Beta agency that the worst thing is that even now "we don't actually know who sent those people there, why they were in uniform, where they got their weapons from", and that, as he said, "the most important thing is that we don't know what they wanted".
"I have the feeling that there is a conspiracy of silence around everything in which everyone participates - partly the Kosovo authorities, partly the international community, partly Serbia, and what we only know is that we have dead people," Švarm said.
He noted that "the president of Serbia said yesterday that the people who participated in that incident, referring to the Serbian side, were a little in central Serbia and a little in Kosovo, and that it was their revolt and rebellion."
"Were they under some kind of observation, ... our services boast that they know everything that is happening in Kosovo and how could they have missed that this action was being prepared," Švarm asked.
According to him, that action could not have been agreed "in half an hour" and two or three people did not participate in it.
"I think that this is a serious security failure by the services in Serbia, regardless of the fact that it is about the north of Kosovo, and that it is impossible that it has escaped the notice of the people living in Kosovo, the Serbian list and ultimately the services of Serbia," Švarm said. .
According to him, in the north of Kosovo, the Serbian List, which is "actually a transmission" of the Serbian Progressive Party, dominates.
An armed group of Serbs from the north of Kosovo, which during the night from Saturday to Sunday blocked the road at the entrance to the village of Banjska, killed Kosovo policeman Afrim Bunjaku and wounded another. In the exchange of fire that followed, three attackers were killed, and the body of the fourth attacker was found yesterday in the north of Kosovo, the media reported.
Pristina accuses Milan Radoičić
The security authorities in Kosovo accused the vice-president of the Serbian List, Milan Radoičić, of organizing and participating in the attack on the Kosovo police. Kosovo Interior Minister Dzelal Svečlja said at yesterday's press conference that the authorities found maps and plans for an attack on the Kosovo Police in the north on Sunday. He said that the attack was not ad hoc but had been planned for months, Radio Free Europe reported. Svečlja stated that based on documents found in a car, Radoičić was connected to the attack.
"In those materials, we also found the documents of a criminal who is also on the black list of the USA, Milan Radoičić, documents that prove his connection or direct participation in this action."
"We have other intelligence information that he was one of the leaders of that group. As I said before, it is now the duty of the police to prove all the facts in detail. The fact is that what you see cannot be prepared in a day, and without the involvement of the leadership of the state of Serbia."
According to the portal nova.rs, Milan Radoičić is connected to various criminal acts - from drug trafficking, to involvement in the murder of Oliver Ivanović, to illegal gravel mining. As vice president of the Serbian List, Radoičić is directly involved in politics and decision-making related to the life of Serbs in Kosovo.
After the German ambassador to Kosovo, Jern Rode, yesterday called out the representatives of the Serbian List for their silence and asked if they would "join in a clear position against the murderous attack on the Kosovo police", the party from that party, as pointed out by the Kossev portal, expressed their condolences 36 hours after the violence to the families of the victims.
"On behalf of the Serbian List and the entire Serbian people from Kosovo and Metohija, we express our deepest condolences to the families of the killed Serbs and the Kosovo Albanian policeman in yesterday's tragic event in the village of Banjska in the municipality of Zvečan," the statement said. They also announced that at least two suspected attackers surrendered before the liquidation. "We are announcing that we will request an investigation into the murder of at least two Serbs who were killed in cold blood, even though they surrendered," they said.
Kosovo demands that Serbia hand over the attackers
At a press conference yesterday, police displayed an arsenal of weapons and ammunition they claim was seized, including Yugoslav-made rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, mortars, anti-tank missile launchers, hand grenades, mine-explosive devices and drones.
According to the minister, based on the weapons they found, it is believed that there was a plan to involve "hundreds of people to destabilize our country" in the attack.
"Their plan to escalate the situation failed. At least three were killed, all in uniform and with military equipment, and two others were arrested and four who were in a secondary role in this activity."
At a joint conference together with police director Gazmend Hodža, Svečlja said that, according to the information so far, "six terrorists are being treated in a hospital in Novi Pazar" and called on Serbia to hand them over to Kosovo. He said that apart from them, other members of the group who fled to Serbia should be handed over to Kosovo in order to face justice.
He said that, according to information, some of the members of the group that attacked the police were members of the "North Brigade" and "Civil Defense", which Kosovo declared as terrorist organizations at the beginning of the year.
The media announced yesterday that the identity of the three murdered Kosovo Serbs was known and that they were from Leposavic and Zvečani.
Reuters reported that Kosovo police in Mitrovica showed journalists about 20 SUVs and an armored truck that they claim were used by the attackers. Three vehicles had KFOR markings written on them, according to the British agency.
Kosovo police units in armored vehicles patrolled yesterday, and armed police officers searched houses in the village of Banjska in search of attackers, a police source told Reuters. The Jarinje and Brnjak crossings were closed yesterday, and all approaches to the village of Banjska were blocked. Journalists were not allowed access to the village even yesterday.
And Svečlja confirmed that the police operation is ongoing and that the Prosecutor's Office and the police will decide when they will be allowed to enter the village of Banjska.
USA: Belgrade and Pristina not to inflame tensions
The United States of America condemned the "coordinated and violent attacks on the Kosovo Police" and called on the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to "refrain from rhetoric or actions that would further inflame tensions."
In a statement by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the governments of Kosovo and Serbia are urged to "immediately start working in coordination with international partners to de-escalate the situation, to ensure security and the rule of law, and to return to dialogue under the auspices of the EU".
"The Kosovo police have full responsibility for enforcing the rule of law in the Republic of Kosovo. The US recognizes and respects the role of the Kosovo police as the first responders in emergency and crisis situations," Blinken said in a statement.
Yesterday was a day of mourning in Kosovo for the murder of police officer Afrim Bunjaku, and the US embassies and the EU Office lowered their flags to half-mast on that occasion, Beta reported.
The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, posthumously honored the fallen police officer yesterday as a "hero of Kosovo" and said that he fell in defense of the country's dignity.
Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti also attended the commemoration for the fallen police officer.
"Since yesterday, nothing can be the same," said Kurti. "Afrim Bunjaku was killed during an attack on Kosovo police officers and on our country by a heavily armed, professionally trained group of attackers with the political, financial and logistical support of Serbia," Kurti said.
Vučić put all the responsibility on the Kosovo Serbs
While the drama in Kosovo was going on, which started in the night from Saturday to Sunday, Vučić addressed the public only the night before at 20 pm and laid all the responsibility for the biggest crisis in Kosovo in the last 10 years on the Kosovo Serbs.
"It was cooked and measured until eight o'clock in the evening. In the end, Belgrade, headed by Vučić, decided to blame everything on the Serbs from Kosovo. It is a disastrous decision for the Kosovo Serbs, and a great one for Belgrade, because Belgrade does not need any connection with the incidents in Kosovo. However, in my opinion, this decision to attribute everything to Serbs from the north is terrible. I expect that the investigation in Pristina under the supervision of EULEX and KFOR will clearly show whether this is the case. Let's find out who these people are and what exactly happened," Isak Vorgučić, the director of RTV Kim from Gračanica, told the newspaper "Nova".
Radio Kontakt plus journalist from Kosovska Mitrovica Ana Marija Ivković said that Vučić put a hot potato in the hands of the Kosovo Serbs.
"Everything that was said at that press conference was the removal of responsibility from Belgrade. It is interesting that someone who has been conducting negotiations on behalf of Serbs with Kosovo and Metohija and who has been making decisions on their behalf for 10 years, suddenly removes responsibility from himself and says that it has nothing to do with with that. It is very unusual that we did not have any reaction from official Belgrade until 20:XNUMX p.m., even though all the eyes of the Kosovo Serbs are on Belgrade at such moments. And then the president puts such a hot potato in their hands, without asking them anything. I believe that Belgrade's behavior in this whole situation was very irresponsible", stated Ivković.
Vučić stated that Serbs from Kosovo participated in the clashes with the Kosovo police and categorically rejected any involvement of Serbia.
Stano: Possible measures towards Belgrade as well
The Kosovo authorities accuse the representatives of the European Union of favoring Belgrade in the current negotiations. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of Kosovo, Donika Gervala, called the reaction of EU High Representative Josep Borrell to the attacks on the Kosovo Police shameful, saying that none of his words were against terrorists.
European Commission media representative Peter Stano said that the EU believes that the new violence in Kosovo confirms the position that it is necessary to get out of constant crises and find a normal framework for solving problems through the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and urgently reduce tension in order to turn to peace and normalization of relations. two sides.
Stano stated that the investigation is ongoing and that clear information about the tragic events of the day before yesterday is still expected, saying that no assessment can be made before that.
He pointed to the condemnation of, as he said, the "terrorist attack" on the Kosovo police, which, according to him, Borel emphasized in the announcement, as well as in the telephone conversation with Kurti and Vučić.
Borel's spokesman pointed out that "EU measures" towards the authorities in Pristina were taken "due to the inability of one side to take measures to reduce tensions, and these measures can be reduced or increased depending on the development of the situation and are now taken towards Kosovo, and if if the situation required, they could be taken towards Belgrade as well".
Bocan-Kharchenko: The West encourages Kurti
Vučić announced yesterday that he had an "important conversation" with the Russian ambassador in Belgrade, Aleksandar Bocan-Harčenko, and that he was "grateful for listening to the pleas and demands of the Serbian side."
"I informed Bocan-Harčenko about the fact that brutal ethnic cleansing is being carried out in Kosovo and Metohija organized by Aljbin Kurti with the support of part of the international community," Vučić announced on Instagram with a photo of the meeting.
Bocan-Harchenko stated that the police operation clearly showed Kurti's desire to occupy the north of Kosovo, but also "the West's support for those plans."
"First, Kurti took an open line of conquering the part of Kosovo inhabited by Serbs. The second thing, which is completely obvious, is that the West encourages Pristina in these activities. It is absolutely clear that the dialogue (in Brussels) is used as a cover for what is really happening in Kosovo. The dialogue gives absolutely no results, as well as diplomatic contacts with the representatives of the leading Western countries," said Bocan-Harchenko.
Yesterday, the Kremlin expressed concern over the "potentially dangerous" situation in Kosovo and expressed support for the Serbs.
"The situation is really, really tense and potentially dangerous," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that "it's no secret that provocations aimed at Serbs are organized very often."
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