Tomic: Nasim Haradinaj's statement concerning, KFOR should take note

Political scientist Ivan Tomic said that the statement by former KLA commander Nasim Haradinaj, who warned of an escalation if the defendants in The Hague were convicted, should not be taken lightly. He added that KFOR in particular should take note of it, given that the Mission maintains that the security situation in Kosovo has improved, Sputnik reported.

Several days ago, Haradinaj said that he believed the situation in Kosovo, Albania, and North Macedonia would escalate if the court in The Hague convicted the former KLA leaders, stating that "if such a decision is made, everything will burn."

Tomic noted that such statements were concerning.

"Nasim Haradinaj's statement that Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Albania would burn in the event of convictions in The Hague against Hashim Thaci and the others who are standing trial for war crimes is certainly not something that should be taken lightly, particularly given his background and the fact that he was one of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans' Association," Tomic told Sputnik.

He added that it was particularly concerning that such messages were coming at a time when KFOR was beginning to reduce its presence at certain sensitive locations, including the bridge in North Mitrovica and Visoki Decani Monastery, on the grounds that the security situation had improved, while developments of this kind were taking place and such statements were being made.

"I would not prejudge whether unrest will actually occur, but such messages certainly have to be taken seriously and must form part of the international community's security assessment. When you have warnings of possible unrest, the political tensions that currently exist on the ground, and a series of incidents targeting Serbs, while at the same time the international military presence is being reduced, the very least we should expect is for the security situation on the ground to be carefully reassessed once again in order to avoid more serious consequences. KFOR should not be present because the situation is supposedly good, but precisely in order to prevent risks if and when the situation deteriorates again," Tomic noted.

He pointed out that when security risks change, security assessments should presumably change as well.

"In that context, this statement really should be taken seriously, and the international community should reassess the security situation itself and respond accordingly," Tomic added.

He said that the authorities in Pristina should not be expected to respond to Nasim Haradinaj's threats.

"Unfortunately, we cannot expect them to do anything. In the recent period, we have had many situations in which Serbs were arrested simply for wearing a T-shirt bearing a Serbian symbol, the Serbian flag, or something similar. All those cases were treated as cases of incitement to religious and ethnic hatred. On the other hand, we have a statement like this that openly calls for violence. We do not see in the statement itself that it is directly aimed against Serbs, but it is clear who is being referred to. From that perspective, I do not expect anything because Albanians do not treat cases involving Albanians in the same way as they treat cases involving us Serbs. At most, Haradinaj might be summoned for an interview if the matter generates somewhat greater media attention, and that would be all," Tomic said.