Serbian authorities detained Kosovo Serb politician Milan Radoicic on Tuesday and charged him with manufacturing and trafficking firearms in Kosovo after he said he was involved in a deadly shootout with the Kosovo police 10 days ago, according to Reuters.
US KFOR troops guard a town hall in Leposavic, KosovoPhoto: Marjan Vucetic / AP / Profimedia
Tensions between Belgrade and Pristina have skyrocketed since September 24, when about 30 armed Serbs attacked law enforcement and then barricaded themselves in a Serbian Orthodox monastery near the village of Banjska in Kosovo’s Serb-majority north, which which led to an exchange of fire with the Kosovar police.
Three attackers and a Kosovo police officer were killed.
The High Prosecutor General’s Office of Serbia said in a statement that Radoicic was questioned on Tuesday on suspicion of joining others in the illegal manufacture, possession and trafficking of firearms and explosive materials.
He added that Radoicic allegedly bought weapons, ammunition and explosive devices in the Bosnian city of Tuzla, which were to be delivered to Belgrade between January and September 2023.
After delivery, he allegedly transferred and stored the weapons in various locations in Kosovo, either in abandoned facilities or in forests, the statement claims.
On September 24, Radoicic and his group “endangered the lives of the people of Banjska,” the prosecutor said.
Radoicic denied any criminal activity. The prosecutor asked a court to order that Radoicic be kept in detention because he could flee.
Last month’s firefight sparked fresh international concern about the stability of Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority and declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a guerrilla uprising and NATO intervention in 1999. .
About 50,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo do not recognize the institutions in Pristina and regard Belgrade as their capital. They have often clashed with Kosovo police and international peacekeepers, but last month’s violence was the worst in years.
Radoicic, vice president of the Serbian List party, which is dominant in northern Kosovo, admitted taking part in the shootout, saying he came to Kosovo with the group “to encourage the Serbian people to resist the terrorist regime of (Prime Minister Albin) Kurti “. Last week, he was questioned by Serbian police about his claims.
Authorities in Pristina accused Belgrade of providing financial and practical support for the operation, which Serbian authorities denied. Kosovo and Western countries have also accused Serbia of increasing its military presence in the so-called terrestrial safe zone, a 5 km wide strip inside Serbia along the border with Kosovo.
On Monday, Serbian army chief General Milan Mojsilovic said the country had withdrawn some of its troops.
Brief history of the incident:
- In the latest violence, which took place on September 24, a paramilitary commando of several dozen men killed a Kosovar Albanian policeman and wounded another at a roadblock near the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo, a region where Serbs they are the majority.
- Three members of the commando, all Kosovar Serbs, were later killed and three others were arrested in an operation launched by Kosovo police special forces. Russia blamed Kosovo for the “bloodshed”.
- The others ran away. The United States, Kosovo’s main international ally, warned on Friday of a “major military deployment by Serbia along the border with Kosovo”, calling on Serbia to “withdraw (its troops)”.
- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic then accused Washington of telling “untruths” without explicitly denying the presence of Serbian troops. He said the number of Serbian troops was far below that of a similar deployment in May.
