Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that police officials have become targets of “continuous attacks” in the northern part of the country, an area that he stated was previously a “comfort zone for criminal gangs led by Belgrade”.
“It is precisely because of this increased police activity in that area that there have been continuous attacks against our officials, from which 25 officials have been lightly injured, one was wounded, and one is currently receiving medical treatment following the injury received during the operation against the infamous criminal Lune,” Kurti said during the graduation ceremony of the 58th generation of the Kosovo Police.
Milun Milenković – Lune was arrested on June 13 in North Mitrovica in an operation by the special forces of the Kosovo Police.
He is suspected of involvement in the attack on the Election Commission building in North Mitrovica, as well as participation in the clashes between protesters and members of the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, on May 29 in Zvecan.
Kurti did not specify the time period during which the mentioned 27 police officers were injured, but earlier in his speech, he mentioned the last two years during his government’s tenure.
Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Sveçla also stated that attacks on Kosovo Police officers have intensified and said that they are facing “criminal gangs” in the north of the country.
Recent tensions in northern Kosovo – an area predominantly inhabited by Serbs – which escalated at the end of May due to the arrival of Albanian mayors in the municipalities, continue.
On July 10, the EU and Kosovo confirmed that they have reached an agreement to de-escalate the situation, and the next day, concrete steps were presented: the withdrawal of 25 percent of the police from and around municipal buildings in the north, the organization of local extraordinary elections after summer, and the return to dialogue for the normalization of relations.
The graduation ceremony of the 58th generation of the Kosovo Police – which included 419 new cadets – was also attended by the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani.
“Today, all together, let us once again express our gratitude and pride for our police officers who are serving in the northern part of our country to protect every inch of the Republic of Kosovo,” said Osmani.
She called for Kosovo’s membership in the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the European Police Office (Europol).
Osmani expressed happiness that among the new cadets, there are also members of non-majority communities, a total of 85, and girls and women, a total of 47.
