Radojevic: Security of Serbs in the north threatened, international community silently watches actions of Kosovo Police

The Serb List candidate for mayor of North Mitrovica in the upcoming local elections, Milan Radojevic, stated that the issue of security and the conduct of the Kosovo Police has become crucial during the tenure of Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti. According to him, Serbs, especially in northern Kosovo, face a threat to their security, while the police fail to respond adequately and international missions remain passive.

“The issue of security and the work of the Kosovo Police has become crucial under Albin Kurti’s government. With his rise to power, the Kosovo Police has become essentially a party-controlled police force under Kurti’s government, because it is directly managed by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, even though by law that should not be possible—the police director should be the one responsible. A great deal of responsibility also lies with international organizations that, until some time ago, carried out direct monitoring of the Kosovo Police. Back then, the work of the police was, by far, much better,” Radojevic explained to Kosovo Online.

He added that the security situation, particularly in northern Kosovo, has deteriorated, but that statistics fail to reflect this, which, he argued, clearly shows the way cases of attacks on Serbs are handled.

“When it comes to security, Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija can speak to it best. Their security has been endangered during Albin Kurti’s government. Unfortunately, the Kosovo Police are often not up to the task and do not react as they should. This is best illustrated by their statistics, statistics that are hardly worth looking at, because according to Kosovo Police records, there are virtually no, or only minimal, cases classified as violence against minorities, ethnically motivated crimes, or so-called hate crimes. Yet, we witness daily attacks on Serbs across Kosovo and Metohija in the past two to three years, especially in northern Kosovo,” Radojevic said.

He stressed that the greatest number of attacks on Serbs actually come from the Kosovo Police, who always find justification for their actions, while the EULEX mission remains a passive observer.

“As in the recent incident in the village of Vuca, where Kosovo Police officers always have some so-called justification for their actions, while Serbs are told to turn to the Police Inspectorate. Unfortunately, the unprofessionalism of the Kosovo Police, particularly in recent times, is significantly influenced by the international community, which no longer monitors and controls the police as it once did. I am referring primarily to the EULEX mission, which is static and completely justifies all actions of the Kosovo Police,” Radojevic said.

He emphasized that this mission has never responded to letters from NGOs in the north that complained about the unprofessionalism of the Kosovo Police, and therefore, Radojevic concluded, it bears part of the responsibility and blame for the poor security situation in northern Kosovo.