BELGRADE, September 24 – Three Serbians have tragically lost their lives during clashes with Kosovo-Albanian police forces in northern Kosovo and Metohija, according to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. The president revealed that two of the victims were killed by sniper fire from a long distance, without any immediate threat, while two others sustained serious injuries. There are concerns that a fourth person may have also died.
President Vucic expressed his disapproval of the killing of a Kosovo police officer but emphasized that the Serbians in the region have been subjected to constant terror from Pristina, which eventually led to the open confrontations. “In just one hour and twenty minutes, according to our estimates, several dozen Serbians were completely surrounded. Obviously, this was done in coordination with international forces, both logistically and strategically. Following the encirclement, a brutal attack was launched on them. We question why KFOR (NATO mission) did not intervene, instead giving carte blanche to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to ‘deal with the terrorists’ by killing as many people as possible,” Vucic highlighted.
The Serbian leader announced a meeting of the National Security Council of Serbia to carefully assess the situation and propose measures in the coming days. “I understand what people desire in their anger. But my plea is for everyone to be reasonable, so that we are the ones making decisions, not someone else, and not events, no matter how painful and difficult they may be,” Vucic noted. He called on the international community to assist in the formation of a Serbian community with Serbian-nationality police units in northern Kosovo and Metohija in order to prevent further clashes.
Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, claimed that unknown individuals attacked Kosovo police officers in the early hours of Sunday near the village of Bansa in the Leposavic municipality. Two police officers were wounded, and one of them succumbed to his injuries. The President of the self-proclaimed Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, accused “Serbian criminal gangs” of carrying out the attack.
The police force of the self-proclaimed republic began a search for the assailants and later reported three deaths and five arrests. The authorities closed the entry points to the region through the Yarina and Brnjak checkpoints. Kurti stated that the police had surrounded thirty armed attackers and called on them to surrender.
On Sunday, the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Raska-Prizren Diocese reported that armed individuals in an armored vehicle had infiltrated the territory of the medieval Orthodox monastery of Bansa. Since late May, Kosovo Serbs have been protesting in the municipalities of Zvecan, Zubin Potok, Leposavic, and Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, demanding the withdrawal of Kosovo-Albanian police special units and the removal of mayors from the northern region. They seek the establishment of a Serbian Community based on the 2013 Brussels Agreement before discussing new municipal elections in the region.
The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija in the Serbian government, Petar Petkovic, stated earlier this week that despite the EU’s call on June 3 to reduce tensions in Kosovo, Pristina’s actions have resulted in 22 incidents of violence based on ethnicity.
