The US Department of State said it is aware of media reports about the meeting between Marko Đurić, the Serbian ambassador to the United States, and Milan Radoičić, who is on the US blacklist for involvement in international organized crime.
“We have a clear position on Mr. Radoičić. He has taken responsibility for the attack in Banjska through his lawyers. He is a criminal who must be held accountable,” said the spokesperson for the US Department of State, to Radio Free Europe (RFE).
It is added that Serbia must bring to justice those responsible for the attack “perpetrated by para-military structures in Banjska, Kosovo, which resulted in the tragic death of a Kosovo Police officer”.
A photo was published on social media X on March 9 showing Marko Đurić, the current ambassador of Serbia to Washington, and Milan Radoičić, the former deputy leader of the Serb List, who is on the US sanctions list.
In the photo, Đurić and Radoičić appear together in a restaurant. It is unknown when and where the photo was taken, as well as who the author is.
It is also unclear whether the photo was taken during Đurić’s tenure as Serbia’s ambassador to the United States.
After the publication of the photograph, Marko Đurić said he would not be ashamed of his contacts and neither would he apologize to Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti or Kosovo’s Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla.
The former director of the Office for Kosovo in the government of Serbia was appointed ambassador to Washington in October 2020.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić briefly referred to the photo of Đurić and Radoičić at a press conference on March 10.
“I didn’t ask him [Marko Đurić] when, where, or why. I didn’t even ask if he got up from his table to see Milan Radoičić, to sit down for a minute or two, or if he came with him,” Vučić said.
The European Union said on March 11 that it is not up to them to comment on every meeting of Serbian officials, but that “who you meet speaks for you”.
“Especially when it comes to suspicions of criminal acts,” EU spokesperson Peter Stano said on March 11 in response to a journalist’s question during a conference on the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo in Brussels.
On September 24, 2023, an armed group of Serbs killed Kosovo police officer Afrim Bunjaku in Banjska, northern Kosovo.
Three Serbian attackers were also killed in the exchange of fire.
Kosovo accuses Serbia of the attack, while official Belgrade denies it.
Radoičić, who took responsibility for the attack, spent a day in pre-trial detention and was later released on condition that he not leave Serbia and not go to Kosovo.
Regarding the progress of the proceedings against him in Serbia, the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade told Radio Free Europe on February 8 that the testimony of the suspect Radoičić is under review.
