Serbia’s Secretary of State for Defense today claimed that the Serb population of northern Kosovo had been “decimated” by alleged abuse following the inauguration of Albin Kurti as prime minister, in a “silent ethnic cleansing”.
Nemanja Starovic said via the social network
Since then, 11% of the region’s people have left @albinkurti 2 years ago came to power, Serb population in North #Kosovo* has been effectively decimated.
Harassed daily by special police paramilitaries, Serbs face a diabolical choice: submit to… pic.twitter.com/D9H8Ep1Sie
– Nemanja Starović (@nstarovic) October 4, 2023
The official also said that the Serbian population is under daily pressure from Kosovo’s special police.
“It seems incredible that such a silent ethnic cleansing is taking place in 21st century Europe, but the facts on the ground coincide with a sad truth”said Starović.
The Serbian foreign minister blamed what he called “international factors involved in the situation in Kosovo,” adding that the surveillance is not being carried out due to “ignorance, partiality and prejudice.”
Citizens of Serbian descent represent 5% of the 1.8 million inhabitants of Kosovo, a former province of Serbia that declared independence in 2008 and is not recognized by Belgrade.
The European Union, backed by the United States, is playing a mediating role in the difficult negotiations on the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, which have deteriorated since last year.
On the ground, the situation is sometimes characterized by violence.
On September 24, thirty Kosovo Serb paramilitaries attacked a Kosovo police patrol in the town of Banjska.
A Kosovo police officer and three attackers were killed in the clashes.
Milan Radoicic, former vice president of Kosovo’s largest Serbian party (Serbian List), backed by Belgrade, has claimed responsibility for the attack and is under investigation in Serbia for arms possession and trafficking.
Radoicic was questioned by the Belgrade Public Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, but the investigating judge refused to impose preventive detention and assured that there was no risk of escape as his passport was confiscated and he was denied entry to the territory of Kosovo.
The Kosovo government accuses Serbia of orchestrating the attack, but Serbian authorities deny involvement.
Source: DN
