Petkovic: The harassment of a high school graduate in North Mitrovica is an image Kaja Kallas needs to see

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, emphasized that the incident in North Mitrovica—where a Kosovo police officer grabbed a high school graduate by the neck on a pedestrian walkway—is a scene that EU High Representative Kaja Kallas should witness.

“Kurti’s police are grabbing a Serbian child by the neck as he celebrates his graduation with classmates in the pedestrian zone of Kosovska Mitrovica! This is the reality in the north today, and it’s something Kaja Kallas should also see! What would have happened had there been no witnesses?” Petkovic asked on the social media platform “X”.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija also condemned today’s incident.

“Kurti’s so-called Kosovo Police stop at nothing—not even when it comes to harassing and intimidating Serbian high school graduates in Kosovska Mitrovica,” the Office stated in a press release.

They questioned what might have happened to the Serbian graduate had the incident not taken place in broad daylight, and pointed out that it is well known that when it comes to Serbian children, the Kosovo Police regularly exceed their authority.

“The level of hatred and intolerance from Pristina and its mechanisms of power toward all things Serbian is exemplified by today’s unacceptable incident in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. Multiple Kosovo police officers surrounded, shoved, and provoked a Serbian student, a graduating senior—grabbing him by the neck and speaking to him in Albanian. One must ask what more might have occurred had the incident not unfolded in plain daylight and in front of numerous witnesses, including fellow citizens and teachers. It is well known that Kosovo Police often exceed their authority when it comes to Serbian children, using excessive force, detaining them without cause or explanation,” the statement reads.

They underscored that this incident illustrates the state of disenfranchisement, oppression, and terror that Serbs in Kosovo live under—one that does not spare even children.

“These kinds of incidents, provoked by Kurti’s Kosovo Police, show that their presence in northern Kosovo and Metohija is not for protection, but to provoke and intimidate Serbs and Serbian children. Any parent witnessing such actions has every reason to be worried and outraged at the violent conduct of Kurti’s monoethnic police force, which has no business being in northern Kosovo and Metohija—let alone grabbing Serbian youths by the neck, pushing them, and trying to tear them away from their families and friends,” the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated.

They emphasized that footage of this disgraceful conduct should be viewed by all EU representatives and international missions—and that they should reflect on why, all over the world, children are free to joyfully mark the end of their school year, while Serbian youth in Kosovo are subjected to persecution and repression by those seeking any excuse, however minor, to display force against them.

According to videos circulating on social media, today’s incident occurred in the pedestrian zone of North Mitrovica, near the main bridge over the Ibar River. The footage shows a member of the Kosovo Police lunging at a Serbian high school student and repeatedly grabbing him by the neck.

High school seniors were celebrating the end of the school year today, and as they passed through the promenade, the footage shows that Albanians seated in nearby cafés heckled them and made the double-headed eagle gesture with their hands.