British Foreign Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday that he should express dissatisfaction with the behavior of the Government of Serbia after the September events in Banjska, when a Kosovo policeman was killed.
In a report before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament, Cameron also said that the British government shares concerns about the way the elections in Serbia were conducted.
He added that he calls on Serbia to investigate allegations of irregularities in the elections and to implement the recommendations of the OSCE and others.
Cameron said that because of the attack in Banjska, which happened on September 24, he was in Pristina on January 4 to take a closer look at the situation.
"We need to show our increasing frustration with the behavior of the Government of Serbia. Of course, we have not changed our minds about giving Serbia a chance for Euro-Atlantic integration... But I think there is frustration with such behavior and that should be clear. Do the European Union and the USA share this frustration, no I know, you have to ask them. But from the conversations I had, I felt there was frustration because Banjska was a moment of great danger," Cameron said.
Answering the question of the president of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Parliament Ališa Cairns about the arrest of the controversial politician Nikola Sandulović after he published a video of him laying flowers in the "Adam Jašari" complex in Kosovo in Pristina, Cameron said that he was familiar with those reports and assessed that they were "extremely worrying".
In the video, Sandulović lays a wreath on the monument commemorating the events of March 5, 6, and 7, 1998, when Serbian forces killed 50 members of the family of Adem Jašari, one of the founders of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
When asked by Cairns why the British government did not publish an assessment of the events in Banjska, Cameron said that the government in London knows very clearly what happened on September 24 in the north of Kosovo, and added that if the Kosovo police had failed to stop a group of armed attackers, it could have there would be a series of other attacks on police stations and that there might have been roadblocks.
"I am aware of how dangerous it was, that's why it was one of the reasons why I went to Kosovo," Cameron said on the occasion of his visit to Kosovo a few days ago.
In September, a group of armed Serbs attacked the Kosovo police in Banjska and killed a policeman, after which three attackers were also killed in the conflict. Kosovo blamed Serbia for the attack, but Belgrade denied any involvement.
Responsibility for the attack, which Kosovo considers terrorist, was taken by Milan Radoičić, the former vice-president of Lista Srbija - the main party of the Serbs in Kosovo, which enjoys the support of official Belgrade.
Cameron said it is time to change the West's attitude towards Kosovo and the Western Balkans, warning that Russia aims to destabilize the region.
"I think the West's attitude towards Kosovo and the Western Balkans was created before Russia attacked Ukraine. Now we have to think a lot about what has changed, because of course Russia wants to do more to destabilize the Western Balkans, to do more through its allies, including Serbia, to make these countries, including countries like Moldova, less safe. So we have to work to find ways to fight that. I think our policy is tough and realistic," he said.
After the attack in Banjska, which was condemned by European countries and the USA, the Kosovo authorities exhibited a large number of seized weapons that they said were produced in Serbia. Also, the authorities announced that they had obtained information about the possible involvement of Russians in the events in Banjska.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said earlier that Russia aims to ignite a crisis "in the backyard of the European Union" in order, in his words, to distract NATO's attention.
The Western military alliance announced that security in Kosovo is crucial for the Western Balkan region, and the head of that alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said that the possibility of permanently strengthening the alliance in Kosovo through its KFOR mission is being considered.
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