The American ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, said that regarding the indictment filed by the Kosovo authorities for the armed attack in Banjska, his country advocates that the attackers be held responsible.
This position of the United States, according to him, has been known for a long time.
On September 11, the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Kosovo announced the indictment against 45 people, including Milan Radoicic, accusing them of participating in the armed group that attacked the Kosovo Police in Banjska in Zvecan on September 24, 2023.
The authorities in Kosovo describe the attack as terrorist.
The indictment has not yet been made public and it is not known who the other persons who have been accused are.
A group of armed Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police on September 24 last year. During the attack, the police officer Afrim Bunjaku was killed, while in the exchange of fire that followed, three Serbian attackers were also killed.
Milan Radoicic, former vice-president of Serb List – the main party of Serbs in Kosovo that enjoys the support of Belgrade – has claimed responsibility for the attack. He is believed to be in Serbia.
The prosecutor of the case, Naim Abazi, during a conference in Pristina, did not mention the possible involvement of the leadership of Serbia in the attack – which, earlier, has been repeatedly emphasized by the Kosovo authorities, even though it itself has denied it.
“All efforts should be focused on dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia”
Regarding the relations between Kosovo and Serbia, Ambassador Hill said that all efforts should be focused on dialogue because, according to him, this is the only way to solve the problems. Hill said that the special representative of the European Union for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, also expressed this position during his visit to Serbia on September 10.
After the meeting with Hill and Lajcak, the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, said that he will present Serbia’s demands, due to the “brutal and substantial attacks on the Serbian population in the north of Kosovo”.
He did not specify what the attacks were.
Vučić said that in the next 72 hours he will address the public about “what the international community has not fulfilled, about what Serbia requires and intends to do”.
Miroslav Lajçak, meanwhile, has stated that during the meeting, Vucic raised great concerns regarding the situation of Serbs in Kosovo.
“I emphasized that we must discuss and find agreed solutions in dialogue”, the European emissary wrote in X.
Lajcak stayed in Belgrade, but also in Pristina one day before, to prepare the new round of dialogue for the normalization of relations. After the visit to Pristina, he stated that a meeting at the level of chief negotiators has been agreed, but he did not give any date for a meeting in Brussels.
Miroslav Lajçak, meanwhile, has stated that during the meeting, Vučić raised great concerns regarding the situation of Serbs in Kosovo.
“I emphasized that we must discuss and find agreed solutions in dialogue”, the European emissary wrote in X.
Lajcak stayed in Belgrade, but also in Pristina one day before, to prepare the new round of dialogue for the normalization of relations. After the visit to Pristina, he stated that a meeting at the level of chief negotiators has been agreed, but he did not give any date for a meeting in Brussels.
