Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti called on the international community to put pressure on Serbia to extradite Milan Radoičić to Kosovo authorities, saying the Serbian politician and businessman is the "essential reason" for the attacks that have occurred and may occur in the future in Kosovo.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, December 1 in Pristina after the attack on the Ibar-Lepenci canal in the north of Kosovo two days ago, Kurti emphasized that Serbia's refusal to extradite Radoičić represents the main challenge in resolving the current situation, Radio Free Europe reports in Albanian language.
Kosovo authorities have issued an arrest warrant and indicted Radoičić, the former vice-president of Serbian List, the party of Serbs in Kosovo, who claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on Kosovo police in Banjska in September 2023.
Kurti said that, if Radoičić had not been freed in Serbia, "the chances of realizing all these attacks that happened, as well as the future attacks they are planning, would have been drastically reduced."
"We are asking international factors to put pressure on Belgrade to hand over the main criminal Radoičić to the institutions of Kosovo. If Serbia suspects that Radoičić would not have a fair trial in Kosovo, we have EULEX, which monitors all cases in Kosovo. That is why he should be extradited to Kosovo," he said. he.
The attack in Ibar-Lepenca is the third in the last 72 hours in the north of the country, populated mostly by Serbs, after the explosions that took place in the police station and the municipal building in Zvečan.
The explosion on the canal in the village of Varage near the municipality of Zubin Potok caused no casualties, but created a large crack in its side wall, which caused water to spill out of the canal, causing some parts of the country to face water shortages.
Kosovo blamed Serbia for this attack, which Serbia denied.
The regular water supply was restored almost a day after the explosion, the Kosovo authorities announced on Sunday, while the supply of the Kosovo Energy Corporation with water for cooling thermal power plants was not disrupted.
Kosovo security authorities arrested eight suspects and seized weapons during a wide-ranging operation in northern Kosovo on Saturday in what they said was the worst attack on the country's critical infrastructure since the war.
Kurti said Friday's attack on a water channel in the north was linked to attacks Russia has been carrying out on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in recent months.
"The aim was to leave a large part of the country without water, in the ground, in the cold and without communication. This attack appears to be connected to the mass attacks of the Russian Federation on Ukraine," Kurti said.
During the conference, he showed a photo that he said showed the emblems of Russian military units that were seized by Kosovo police during Saturday's operation in the north of the country.
"Dozens of emblems of Russian military units were found. These emblems belong to special Russian units," he added.
The attack on the water canal in the north was condemned by the international community.
The European Union and Germany said it was an act of terrorism.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the US will provide support in finding and punishing the perpetrators of the attack on the Ibar-Lepenci channel.
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