WHO IS WHO – Veton Elshani: Deputy Kosovo Police commander in the north during turbulent times

The new head of the Kosovo Border Police Department, Veton Elshani, is a police officer with many years of experience who comes to the position after serving as Deputy Regional Police Commander for the north, where Serbs make up the majority of the population. In his previous role, he was a key figure in communication with the media and the local community on security issues in the four municipalities, and his tenure coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in northern Kosovo.

Elshani was appointed Deputy Regional Commander of the Kosovo Police in the north in April 2023, succeeding Besim Hoti, just several months after the previous commander, Nenad Djuric, left the police service in early November 2022 and Serbs in the north withdrew from Kosovo institutions, including the police.

Virtually from the beginning of Elshani’s tenure, unrest broke out in Zvecan, followed by the incident in Banjska and the attack on the Ibar-Lepenac canal. His tenure was also marked by police operations, searches and arrests of Serbs, who frequently alleged police brutality.

Against the return of police officers who resigned

In December 2023, Elshani said that police officers who had left the Kosovo Police a year earlier should not be allowed to return to their jobs.

As he said at the time, someone who takes off the police uniform once may do so again.

“My professional opinion is that they should never be allowed to return to work once they hand in their badge. If a police officer is under enormous pressure, I understand a decision to leave the profession, but once you hand in your police ID and take off the uniform, it can happen again. I am not talking only about Serbs, but about everyone,” Elshani said at the time.

‘Serbian healthcare and education services will remain a problem until they are under our administration’

After the Kosovo Police closed Serbian Post facilities in northern Kosovo in the summer of 2024, Elshani said that “parallel and illegal structures” were affecting the security situation in the north.

“They pose a threat to the north of the country because we cannot remain at ease while they carry out their activities. As long as those parallel structures are there, we have problems. By parallel structures, I mean the healthcare and education services, which will remain a problem for us until they are under our administration,” Elshani said.

Honorary citizen of Zvecan and North Mitrovica

In May 2025, Elshani was named an honorary citizen of North Mitrovica, and two months later he was also granted honorary citizenship of Zvecan.

In North Mitrovica, he was the first person to receive the distinction, which had been established by the municipal administration led by an Albanian mayor.

Municipal Assembly President Nexhat Ugljanin explained that the recognition of Elshani was intended as a symbol of respect for those who contribute to the security and stability of the community.

Two months later, another distinction followed.

At the end of July, Zvecan Mayor Ilir Peci presented Elshani with the title of “honorary citizen” and the “Isa Boletini” award “in recognition of his outstanding engagement and contribution to strengthening the rule of law and security in the municipality.”

The initiative had been launched by Peci himself in recognition of what he described as Elshani’s “unparalleled role and contribution to creating a safe environment for all citizens of the municipality of Zvecan and beyond.” He thanked Elshani “for the effort, commitment, dedication and continuous attention he has demonstrated in ensuring that all citizens of Zvecan feel safe in a municipality governed by the law and the constitutional order of Kosovo.”

Incident involving a graduating student

In May 2025, graduating secondary school students in Mitrovica celebrated the completion of their schooling, but the festivities did not pass without incident.

According to videos circulated on social media, the incident took place in the pedestrian zone in North Mitrovica. The footage appeared to show a Kosovo Police officer confronting a Serbian secondary school student and repeatedly grabbing him by the neck.

Elshani described the incident at the time as a “minor incident.”

“As they were walking through the pedestrian zone, he was showing three fingers to people sitting at the far end of the promenade and provoking people who were having coffee. The police intervened and told him not to provoke anyone. In the video posted on social media, I should add, the boy has red marks on his neck, but that is paint. There was no blood,” Elshani said at the time.

He also said that there had been no excessive use of force and that the young man had not been arrested but had instead received a verbal warning.

Asked at the time whether the police officer had exceeded his authority by grabbing the young man by the neck, Elshani replied:

“I do not think so. He did not exceed his authority,” adding that there were no grounds for opening a case.

Statement on the painted-over wall

In June this year, after a wall in North Mitrovica where a mural dedicated to Patriarch Pavle and Metropolitan Amfilohije was due to be restored was painted over, Elshani said he did not know who had done it but saw no problem with the incident.

His remarks prompted a reaction from Mayor Milan Radojevic, who said such a response was unacceptable.

“If this were not about our lives, and if the citizens of North Mitrovica did not have to witness things like this, the statement would truly be laughable. However, this is, to put it mildly, a mockery of the citizens of the municipality of North Mitrovica,” Radojevic said.

Veton Elshani previously served as Deputy Director of the Regional Police Directorate in Pec and, before that, as a police spokesperson in Pristina. He also headed the international cooperation unit and the Border Police rapid response unit.

The leadership of the Kosovo Police Regional Directorate for the north is regulated by the April 2013 Brussels Agreement, which provides that the four Serb-majority municipalities—North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic—should have a Serbian Regional Police Commander.

Under the agreement, the commander is appointed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs from a list of candidates submitted by the four mayors on behalf of the Association/Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, as the composition of the police in the north is intended to reflect the ethnic composition of the population of the four municipalities.