In June, a court in Pristina sentenced Aleksandar Vllajiq to five years in prison after he was found guilty of espionage for acting as a member of Serbia’s Intelligence and Security Agency (BIA).

Currently, two suspects — Bedri Shabani and Muharrem Qerimi — are on trial at the Basic Court in Pristina, accused of spying for Serbia.

They have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which allege they provided the Serbian BIA with information about Kosovo’s security institutions, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and the Reçak massacre.

In Kosovo, espionage is defined as the covert gathering, transmission, or distribution of sensitive information to another state, organization, or group.

Under Kosovo’s Criminal Code, espionage is considered a serious crime and carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison if the suspect is found guilty.

Experts have described espionage as a serious threat to Kosovo’s national security, and say that recent arrests only highlight the ongoing danger.

They argue that such activities not only destabilize the country internally but also harm its international standing.

Burim Ramadani, former Chief Inspector of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA), considers espionage one of the main threats to national security in the country. According to him, the recent arrests and other ongoing legal proceedings against suspects show how vulnerable Kosovo is to foreign intelligence activities.

“The intended damage is to discredit Kosovo internationally and to create internal tension,” Ramadani told Radio Free Europe in March.

According to former Deputy Interior Minister of Kosovo, Valdet Hoxha, Serbia and Russia are primarily the actors seeking to portray Kosovo as a “failed Western project.”

“In this context, naturally, they have aimed to infiltrate their people into security mechanisms and other political structures,” Hoxha said.