Radulovic: Svecla organizes actions to find weapons in order to criminalize the Serbs in the north

Military analyst Vlade Radulovic from the Center for Geostrategic Research and Terrorism tells Kosovo Online that with the recent police action when weapons were found in a house in Zvecan in Pristina, the authorities continue their attempt to criminalize the Serbs, and indicates that this is not the first time that tensions have risen in this way in the north before negotiations in Brussels.

"No matter how much we try to lower tensions and find some kind of a solution to the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, Pristina persistently refuses not only to cooperate and calm the situation but does the opposite, and these latest events should be viewed accordingly," Radulovic says regarding another action by Police Minister Xhelal Svecla, who immediately "revealed" that the discovered weapons had been intended for "gangs from the north".

He indicates that everything that Pristina does - it does to make any kind of dialogue impossible.

"When you have a situation where they are arresting people, persecuting the Serbs, then what is the point of further talks," Radulovic says.

He adds that the Kosovo authorities have done almost nothing to de-escalate the situation and that they have been persistently trying to criminalize the north of Kosovo for years.

"Some things can be tragicomic in that situation. Someone throws a firecracker or something similar, and the Albanian media immediately announce that a hand grenade was thrown. And from that perspective, they are not doing anything new that they haven't done in the past period. You have a historical basis that the Serbs in the Balkans are to blame for everything and then that argument is good for you to further exploit that topic, now pointing the finger at the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. And the situation all these years, based on agreements and negotiations, shows that nothing is actually as they present it," Radulovic believes.

Referring to BIRN research, which claims that the main suppliers of weapons to gangs from Afghanistan and Morocco that smuggle migrants are the Albanian criminals from Kosovo, south-central Serbia, and Albania, Radulovic says that this is best demonstrated by the events in Subotica, where weapons that could be found in Albania and Kosovo are used.

"This is best shown by the incidents in the north of Serbia, in Subotica and the surrounding area with migrants, where some kind of Chinese-made automatic weapons were used, and Albania had these weapons throughout history, which later spread to the territory of Kosovo," Radulovic said.

He pointed out that the demilitarization of the KLA had never actually been implemented.

"There were a few weapons that were handed over, but there are still many illegal ones. There are also criminal groups that try and succeed in selling these weapons in different ways, and we will see if these weapons will appear in Europe at some point," Radulovic says.

Speaking about the possibilities of any agreement between Pristina and Belgrade, he believes that nothing much will change compared to the existing situation.

"I'm pretty sure, even if some agreement is reached, for example, regarding new elections in the north, that not much will change. The measures introduced in Kosovo have given some results, but it seems to me that the authorities in Pristina have not been very shaken by it," Radulovic says.

He thinks it is interesting that despite all the problems he faces both externally and internally, Kurti does not lose his popularity.

"There is no such drastic blow to his electorate and he is still considered one of the most influential political figures among the Albanians in Kosovo," Radulovic said.