Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić held a phone conversation with US Senators Chris Murphy, Jeanne Shaheen, and Pete Ricketts regarding the situation in Kosovo.
According to a statement from the Serbian Presidency, the Senators called for self-restraint from Serbia and emphasized the need for peace.
“Murphy, Shaheen, and Ricketts told President Vučić that they seek self-restraint from Serbia and call for peace because it is in the best interest of everyone in the Western Balkans,” the Serbian Presidency statement said.
According to the statement, the sole topic of the conversation was the situation in northern Kosovo.
Vučić told the US Senators that the arrest of Milun Milenković Lune was clearly and without any doubt a provocation and a crime committed by Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti. The Serbian President stated that Kurti is attempting “to provoke a war in the heart of Europe”.
“Serbia is doing everything to preserve peace, but the Serbian people in Kosovo have been subjected to torture and the worst persecution in the last 15 years,” Vučić was quoted as saying.
On June 13th, the Kosovo Police conducted an operation in North Mitrovica, where Milun Milenković Lune was arrested. According to Kosovo’s Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Sveçla, the arrested individual is “one of the leaders of the criminal group ‘Civilian Protection’ and the leader of criminal gangs that have terrorized our citizens over the years.” According to Sveçla, he was one of the organizers of the attacks against NATO members in Zvečan on May 29th.
Reacting to the issue, Petar Petković, the Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, stated that Milun Milenković Lune is not a criminal and that the Kosovo Police has no evidence to support the charges against him.
“He is a distinguished fighter for Serbian national interests and the rights of Serbs in northern Kosovo,” he said during a press conference in Belgrade.
Petković called on KFOR to urgently react and remove the special units of the Kosovo Police from the north.
He also mentioned that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had several conversations with the EU Special Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Miroslav Lajčák, and other international officials.
Petković further stated that General Major Angelo Michele Ristuccia, Commander of KFOR, will stay in Belgrade on Wednesday, June 14th, and hold talks with Vučić and the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces Milan Mojsilović.
Following this police operation in northern Kosovo on June 13th, where three police officers were injured, local Serbs gathered in the Bosniak Quarter. In addition to the Kosovo Police, American KFOR soldiers were also seen there.
Some members of the Kosovo Police have withdrawn, but a police official stated that the institution is “reorganizing” its presence in the north.
The operation in northern Mitrovica, a municipality predominantly inhabited by Serbs, took place on the same day when Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced that he had presented a five-point plan to the international community, aimed at reducing tensions.
In the past two weeks, tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have escalated once again as protests have taken place in four northern municipalities by local Serbian groups opposing the appointment of new Albanian municipal leaders in North Mitrovica, Zvečan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavić.
Tensions peaked on May 29th when masked Serbian groups in Zvečan injured 30 KFOR soldiers, three of whom were armed.
