The Government of Kosovo has announced that border controls with Serbia have been tightened, with the Prime Minister stating that “our aim is security, and security starts at the borders”.
“For security reasons, immediate and necessary measures have been taken to tighten border controls with Serbia, restricting movement and increasing inspections of vehicles coming from Serbia, especially transport vehicles. These are not economic or trade measures, but simply security measures,” said Albin Kurti.
He made these comments during a joint press conference with Minister of Interior Xhelal Sveçla, which took place after the meeting of the National Security Council.
Authorities from Kosovo’s security, justice, and finance institutions attended the meeting following the arrest of three Kosovo Police officers by Serbian forces in the northern part of the country a day earlier.
Kosovo Government calls on the international community to condemn Serbia’s actions.
While demanding the immediate release of the abducted police officers, Kurti called on the international community to condemn Serbia’s actions and expressed surprise at their silence.
“Yesterday’s incident was an aggression against our democratic state, retaliation against the Kosovo Police, which fights crime, and an intention to escalate and destabilize at a time when we have already proposed a five-point plan for de-escalation and stabilization,” the Prime Minister said.
During the conference, Minister Sveçla referred to Serbia’s actions as “criminal acts”, stating that “the abduction of police officers is an extremely serious incident”.
“This criminal act must be strongly condemned by the international community because it represents a grave violation and once again reveals Serbia’s true face,” said Sveçla, urgently calling for the release of the police officers.
The Police described it as a “classic organized kidnapping” within the territory of Kosovo, while in Belgrade, it was stated that they were arrested by Serbian gendarmerie anti-terror units within the territory of Serbia, in the municipality of Raška.
According to the Kosovo Police, the incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when it is suspected that the police officers were abducted by Serbian forces during a patrol in an area called Tresave/Bare on the northern border of Kosovo.
The location of Tresave/Bare is situated in the municipality of Leposavić, within the territory of Kosovo.
These developments are happening at a time when tensions in northern Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Serbs, have been escalating.
Tensions began on May 26th when new Albanian mayors in the northern municipalities entered municipal buildings with the assistance of the Kosovo Police, amid opposition from local Serbs.
Tensions escalated on May 29th when in Zvečan, Serbian protesters clashed with members of the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR. Dozens of people from both sides were injured in the clashes.
Furthermore, on June 13th, the Kosovo Police conducted an operation in North Mitrovica, where they arrested Milun Milenković. Minister Sveçla stated that the arrested individual is suspected of being one of the organizers of the incidents in Zvečan on May 29th.
