A photograph of Serbia’s ambassador to the United States, Marko Đurić with Milan Radoičić, the former vice-chairman of the Serb List, who claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Banjska in northern Kosovo, has sparked harsh reactions.

The United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeff Hovenier, in a response to Gazeta Express on Sunday, emphasized that “we are aware of media reports about the alleged meeting”.

“The United States’ stance on Radoičić is known. He is under US government sanctions for involvement in corruption and transnational organized crime,” Hovenier said.

“As senior US government officials have said: Serbia must hold those involved in the attack by Serbian ethnic paramilitaries in Banjska, which resulted in the tragic death of a Kosovo Police officer, accountable,” the ambassador added.

“He [Radoičić] has taken responsibility for the attack in Banjska through his lawyers. He is a criminal who must be held accountable,” said Hovenier.

A warrant has been issued by INTERPOL for Radoičić for organizing the armed attack in the village of Banjska in Kosovo in September 24, 2023, resulting in the deaths of Kosovo police officer Afrim Bunjaku and three Serbs from Radoičić’s group.

He publicly took responsibility for the event in Belgrade and only spent a day in custody on charges of illegal possession of weapons, before being released.

In a reaction after a photograph from the meeting emerged on social media, Marko Đurić said he neither hides nor is ashamed and is connected to “the work he does”.

“I would be disappointed if my recent return was not accompanied by a negative campaign. Although rather pathetic. I have no intention of apologizing to [Kosovo Prime Minister Albin] Kurti and [Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal] Sveçla, and other malicious individuals for anything. I have never hidden nor been ashamed of the very public contacts I have within the scope of the work I do. Besides various Serbian representatives with whom I still maintain regular contact and whom I still like to meet today, I have met many times, also within the scope of the work I do, with numerous Albanian leaders who are charged by domestic and international justice for unspeakable war crimes against my people. Personally, this has always been much more difficult for me. Also, meetings I had to have with ethnonationalists like Kurti and Sveçla who brutally trample on the basic human rights of Serbs in Kosovo and have innocent blood on their hands. I have been absent from daily politics for a long time, so I am somewhat surprised by the passion with which some in the public sphere campaign against their own country, thinking that they will gain political benefit from it. However, they can expect new major disappointments in the near future. I am returning soon and I can hardly wait to confront all of them together,” Đurić wrote in a lengthy update on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić briefly commented on the photograph, explaining he did not ask Đurić when the photo was taken, where, or why.

“I didn’t ask him when, where, or why. Not even if he got up from his table to meet with Milan Radoičić, to sit for a minute or two, or if he came with him, I didn’t ask him anything,” Vučić said according to nova.rs.

“They attack Marko Đurić, I see all the other informants and snitches how they will report to someone somewhere. Imagine – he met with a ‘villain’. And you praise those who go to the grave of [former Kosovo Liberation Army commander] Adem Jashari, who killed legal and legitimate Serbian soldiers and policemen. Everything is twisted in this country,” the president emphasized.

Incidentally, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić sent a message from New York last month that Đurić is returning to Serbia and will have “one of the very important functions in the country”.

He is being mentioned as a nominee for the formation of Serbia’s new government after the elections.

Serbian opposition politician Nikola Sandulović, who was allegedly beaten by Serbian secret services at the beginning of this year, called on the West to respond to the meeting.

“Serbian ambassador to the US Marko Đurić, who’s also expected to become Serbia’s next prime minister, is seen dining with INTERPOL-wanted and US-sanctioned Milan Radoičić, a close associate of Serbia’s President [Aleksandar] Vučić, who stood behind the Banjska attack that left one Kosovo policeman dead. What will be the response of the US and the EU to this obvious proof of the connection between the criminal wanted by INTERPOL with the head of the Serbian government?” Sandulović wrote on X.

“Radoičić has more influence than Vučić”

Security expert Bedri Elezi told Euronews Albania that Milan Radoičić is a member of the Russian secret service, FSB, and on behalf of Moscow has orchestrated several events in Serbia and Kosovo, including Banjska.

Moreover, the expert emphasized that Radoičić has more influence in the secret service than President Vučić himself, becoming a controller of the secret services that control the region.

“Radoičić has exceptional relations with the Russian secret service FSB. He is a member and has received high duties from the Russian FSB, an institution with extraordinary influence in Serbia. Let’s not forget that he has performed duties for the Russian secret service, not only in the case of Banjska but has also assaulted individuals in Serbia on behalf of Russia. His relationship with the director of the Serbian Intelligence Agency [BIA] is a relationship that surpasses Vučić’s relationship with the BIA. He has more influence on the BIA than Vučić himself. Through the Serbian secret service, Radoičić controls the region,” Elezi argued.

The expert emphasized that the photo may have been published by partner secret services who monitor Radoičić.

“It is a well-organized photograph; I cannot say that it could not have been made by partner secret services. This photograph did not come from the cameras of the venue’s security. As far as I know, secret services have the capacity to capture images from the cameras of public places without entering, by using the Wi-Fi password. But in this case, the photo is classic, made by a person; either a person who has been serving and has not been taken from the security cameras of the facility. But was it published by partners or by the opposition in Serbia? I agree that this is an attempt to show Radoičić’s relationship with the authorities in Serbia. Imagine what happens to those we don’t see,” the expert concluded.