Vucic: Serb politician who led Kosovo attack to be indicted, EU, opposition pressure mounts

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said that the Serbian authorities will indict Milan Radoicic, the former vice-head of the Serb List political party who admitted to leading the terrorist attack in the north of Kosovo on 24 September, while an EU delegation is set to visit Belgrade and opposition pressure mounts.

Radoicic was arrested earlier this month but was set free hours later, leading to widespread criticism from Pristina and those advocating for a firmer response from Serbia over the attack.

Vucic said that following investigations against him, he will be charged.

“The prosecutor is pursuing him for serious crimes, which he has admitted. The investigation will continue, and then charges will be filed. This will show where the illegal money and weapons came from. The discovery of this is our international obligation, and this will be done”, said Vucic on October 11, during a visit to a medical institute in Belgrade, Serbia.

He added that the military and civilian authorities are investigating the circumstances of the incident in Banjska and that the public will be informed of the investigation results.

On September 24, an armed group of Serbs attacked the Kosovo police in Banjska of Zveçan, killing officer Afrim Bunjaku. Three attackers were also killed during the clash after barricading themselves in a monastery.

Following the attack, significant amounts of weapons and ammunition were found, including some that had passed through Serbian state maintenance centres multiple times, including last year.

The responsibility for organising the attack was taken by Radoicic, who resigned from the post of vice president of Serb List, the main party of Serbs in Kosovo that has the support of official Belgrade.

Kosovo has accused Serbia of the attack, but Belgrade has denied involvement. Institutions in Kosovo and Serbia are conducting separate investigations into this event.

Meanwhile, Vucic also confirmed that representatives of the QUINT countries will arrive in Serbia on 21 October. The delegation will include the representative of the European Union for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, and the representatives of the governments in the United States, France, Germany, the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, but also the US envoy for the region, Gabriel Escobar.

It is expected that the topics of the meeting in Belgrade will be the harmonisation of Serbia with the foreign policy of the EU, the imposition of sanctions against Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, and the implementation of the Agreement towards normalisation that Kosovo and Serbia reached earlier this year.

At the same time, the Serbian opposition parties sent an official letter addressed to the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, expressing concern over possible measures against Serbia by the EU and distancing themselves from Vucic.

“We are deeply concerned about the announcements about the possibility of imposing measures against Serbia. Any hostile action affecting Serbia and its population would only further endanger our country and the region, strengthen the existing Euroscepticism and dangerous nationalist narrative, and return Serbia to its image of the 90s,” the letter states.

It continues that the political and personal responsibility of Vucic for the current situation is obvious, and every possible measure should be imposed on him and his closest political allies personally.

For the instability in the north of Kosovo, they largely blame the president, who, according to them, has implemented authoritarian policies.

“Aleksandër Vucic is directly responsible for encouraging Serbian representatives to leave the institutions of Kosovo, especially the police units, but also for imposing authoritarian and undemocratic solutions. As a result, it caused violence and political victims such as Mr Oliver Ivanovich and others and fostered a general state of insecurity and despair, which led to a new wave of emigration.

According to Vucic, Serbia is set to head to the polls in snap general elections in the middle of December.

(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)