Kurti accuses Serbian defence minister of involvement in attack, calls for special court

The group known as the “Clan of Novi Sad”, Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vuceci, was involved in the terrorist attack in northern Kosovo’s Banjska on 24 September, said Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who also called for the establishment of a special court to try Serb crimes.

In addition to his role as defence minister, Vucevic is deputy prime minister, president of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and previously served as mayor of Novi Sad between 2012 and 2022. He is a close associate and confidant of President Aleksander Vucic and his brother Andrej.

“He is the chairman of the state party SNS, three times elected mayor of Novi Sad with the help of Zvonko Veselinovic, and the closest friend of the brother of the President of Serbia, Andrej Vucic. About 40 Orthodox pilgrims to Banjska Monastery on 24 September were from Novi Sad,” Kurti said, questioning whether this was a coincidence.

He continued that those involved were criminals during the war and continued to engage in criminal activities during peace, both in Kosovo and Serbia.

“The country’s President, Aleksandar Vučić, acts like a capo-di-tutti-capi, reinforcing the idea that while crime may influence the state, in reality, the state dictates criminal actions”, he added.

Kurti also called on the EU and the US to create a Special Court to deal with Serbian crimes. “The Balkan mafia would experience a fatal blow, while the Balkan region would be completely opened for European democracy, legal justice, stable peace, and accelerated development,” he said.

Kosovo already has a Special Court set up in The Hague to deal with former military and political leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. These courts are controversial as many in Kosovo argue that nothing similar was set up for Serbia, the aggressor in the Kosovo-Serbia war.

The Serbian ministry reacted quickly to the accusations, dubbing them “completely baseless and flagrant lies”. They urged the international community to put an immediate stop to the “inflammatory and hostile media campaign” led by Kurti’s government.

They also described the comments as an attempt to “eliminate any chance of reducing tensions” in what Serbia described as “our southern region” despite it being a part of Kosovo since 2008.

Kosovo has accused Serbia of trying to “annex the entire northern part of Kosovo”, an assertion that Serbia has denied. However, responsibility for the 24 September attack was claimed by Milan Radojičić, the former deputy chairman of the Serb List, the largest party representing Serbs in Kosovo and backed by Belgrade.

Both Kosovo and Serbia have initiated parallel investigations into the events in Banjska. The European Union has urged Belgrade to fully cooperate on this matter.

Kurti also noted that the “terrorist group on the run, led by Milan Radojičić, is currently hiding in Rashka. The notorious Serbian MUP (Interior Ministry) provided them with white and black Skoda Octavia vehicles with BG and NS registration plates”.

He further warned that in the four northern municipalities of Kosovo, “terror, criminality, and the culture of violence associated with the Delije paramilitaries are coming to an end”.

The Kosovo government has published details of what it says is evidence of Serbian state involvement in the attack. This includes certificates showing some of the weapons and ammunition came from the Defence Ministry and that others had been serviced by state repair facilities as recently as last year.

Serbia denies having any hand or prior knowledge of the attack.

But in parliament on Monday, the Serbian opposition questioned Vucic, Interior Minister Bratislava Gasic and Security Chief Aleksander Vulin over how it is possible they did not know about the imminent attack.

“How is it possible that he did not know what Radoicic was doing in Banjska with people armed with machine guns, rifles that no city in Serbia is allowed to keep privately?” said Nebojsa Zellenovic, co-chairman of the opposition party Together for Serbia.

MEPs have also argued it is hard to believe the Serbian government and intelligence had no idea an attack involving scores of militants and hundreds of weapons and rounds of ammunition was imminent.

(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)