News: Escalation of violence in northern Kosovo: what is happening

On the night of 24 September, a firefight took place between the Kosovar police and an unidentified terrorist armed group blocking access to the village of Banjska, north of Kosovo. In the clash a policeman and three terrorists lost their lives.

The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, argued that the attack was carried out by Serbian criminal groups and that it constitutes a challenge "to Kosovar sovereignty". The Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, also spoke of "troops supported by the Serbian state". According to the Minister of the Interior, Xhelal Sveçla, the members of the armed group would be part of the former Zaštita Civilisation, the paramilitary civil protection active in northern Kosovo, then dismantled in 2015 as part of the process of normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade. Svecla has also published a video showing the vice-leader of the North Kosovar party Serbian List, Milan Radoicic, at the head of the terrorist group.

On the other hand, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić denied the country’s involvement in the attack, but reiterated that the clash represents the natural evolution of the rebellion of Serbs in northern Kosovo "who can no longer stand the terror imposed by Kurti". Vucic also stated that an escalation of violence is not Serbia’s intention, as it would be counterproductive to the country’s path to the EU.

EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, spoke of "a horrific attack", picking up on the unhappy Foreign Minister, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, complaining about Borrell’s lack of support for the Kosovo police and the failure to recognise the attack as a terrorist act, while the Russian Foreign Ministry, government spokesperson and Russian embassy in Belgrade expressed their support for Serbia.

Photo credits: Hibasi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons