Serbian extremists' plan uncovered, plotting in Kosovo to shake up Balkans

(original History of BIRN Research: Serbian Royalists, British Cheeseists and a Committee That Can Shake the Balkans)

Serbian monarchs linked to Russians and a British group of far-rights are seeking to equip the mysterious Serb groups in northern Kosovo to resist what they believe will be an attack on Serbs on the part of Albanians, writes the Balkans Insight.

Above the hot town of Mitrovica, in the northern part of the Iber River, which divides Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, lies the modern St Dimitri church.

On a September night this year, the leader of the invisible pro-monarchist Order of the Dragon group posted for a photo on the top of the hill with a package of aid to the Serb population in the area: bulletproof vests, fears and military clothing.

Dejan Damnanovic, the Order's leader, posted a photo on his Facebook page with a warning that “action is needed instead of detogy” in preparation for the outcome of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq's proposal for a “national execution” for the future of Kosovo.

While Damnjanovic said the photo was published with the aim of conveying a message, Kosovo Order representatives told BIRN that the equipment was dedicated to HINAirsofft, including forged military equipment.

The photograph was removed from his profile, after BIRN's interest.

But findings, however, raise questions about the activities of nationalist groups and extreme rightists in this unstable region, especially after a survey by the Balkan Network for Investigative Journalism (BIRN) found that this shipment is only part of a major move to equip and prepare Kosovo Serbs for an alleged attack.

These groups believe an offensive by Kosovo Albanians is threatened against Serb community enclaves, however there is no evidence of any operation planning.

The vast network of extreme rightist groups and activists leads around the Dragon Order, which has headquarters in Belgrade and is named after 15th century Christian fighters who fought against the Ottoman Empire and who in the past have made regular deliveries to Kosovo Serb families in warm clothes, food and other household items.

Those related to him include a popular British rightist, Jim Downson, who is described as one of the most notorious activists of the British far right, and who has been banned from entering Hungary earlier this year.

Through a new group called Knights Templar International, who front Downson as spokesman, he also calls for delivery of equipment such as tactical vests and fears for Serb groups in northern Kosovo.

The Dragon Order also hopes reports that it has built with Russian rightist intellectual Alexander Dugin, who is said to have brokered peace between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Recep Tayip Erdogan at the beginning of this year, and with Dugin's close friend Leonid Savin, will offer them an open line in the Kremlin in the event of an attack on Kosovo Serbs.

As long as these inconsistent organisations have not always worked together, they share many common concerns about the future of the former province of Serbia, which declared independence in 2008, and have common ambitions for protecting Kosovo Serbs against what they claim may be attacked.

The credibility of these campaigns is not clear, but the issue was raised in Serbia's Parliament by MP Marinika Tepiq from Serbian opposition Nova Stranka (New Party) on Thursday.

There is no evidence that there is any attempt to attack Kosovo Serbs by the Albanian majority, which constitutes more than 90 per cent of the population in Kosovo.

No major crime ethnically motivated crime has been recorded in recent years in Kosovo.

Last year, Damnanovic has made at least one trip north of Kosovo with Downson, an internet rock for many rightist groups, and Nick Griffin, former leader of the British National Party, an extreme rightist party, according to Damnanovqi and Downson analysis, but also the Damnanovic accounts on Facebook and internet sites that report on their activities.

British anti-fascist campaign group “Exploration, not hate” (Hope not Hatte) listed Downson as Britain's most influential rightist “in a report published in February 2017.

Downson, whose profile is also published in London Times, The New York Times and a large number. International media, Says it helped British National Party collect large sums while working with Griffin.

It later founded the ultranationalist group “Britain First” (First Britain) in 2010 before leaving in 2014. “Hope not Hate” says Dowson helped British First ensure more than 1 million Facebook followers by mixing “immotive” to <x6); rightlisterial and conservative society”.

His social media capabilities have raised his profile to the extreme European right and opened the doors to new political and professional reports”, said a “Hope not Hate” in 2017.

Griffin was deputy with BNP until he lost his seat in 2014, but he remains a legend of extreme right policy in Great Britain.

Downson and Griffin were banned from entering Hungary in April 2017. Downson said he was told that it was done because he presented “risk for national security” -- something he strongly denies - while the reasoning behind Griffin's ban is not known. Both have publicly said they will appeal the verdict.

The reason for the ban has not been made public, but Dawson and Griffin had made Hungary their political home and were extremely active on this country's extreme right scene, known for the immigrant crisis that hit Central and Eastern Europe in 2015 and 2016, according to <x0Hhop not Hatte”.

The duo had co-operated with a number of far-right groups, including the nationalist Jobk party, the third largest force in the Hungarian parliament.

Dowson also used Budapest to run his network of websites “patriotic” and established a centre for his newest project, a formidable anti-imgration and anti-Islamic group called “Knights Temple International, KTI, according to “Hope not Hate”.

KTI, named after Christian crusaders, insists that it is not racist, and Downson has sought to distance himself from those who attack Islamists in Great Britain. But the KTI website includes many examples of lighting language, including the <x0 Muslim sub-terrorism threat to land robbers” as a reference to Kosovo.

The official role of Downson with KTI is not clear. He had earlier admitted to assisting “in one or two projects” with the group, but had also said he had not kept any “posital, header or authority”.

It is described in the KTI site as “brother” and “sthesiser” KTI's and acts as a public figure of the organisation, showing up in most videos and following many of its events.

Griffin's role at the KTI is even less clear, even though it was presented to its events, including visits to Kosovo and Bulgaria along with Downson, even though BIRN has no evidence that links it directly to the campaign to send equipment to Kosovo.

In an online posted video, Downon relates how after being expelled from Hungary, he flew straight to Belgrade.

Shortly thereafter, the KTI published an address in the Serbian capital, where Downson seemed to have spent a long time going to the Damnanovic shooting track and helping the Dragon Order make a new website, according to his account and the Facebook Dragon Order.

Dowson even posted on Facebook that his current “city” is Pancevo, a town on the outskirts of the Serbian capital, but had changed this in the coming days by listing the house in Glasgou, Scotland.

His Facebook account also shows a photograph of him in front of the Serbian government building in which, among other things, the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo is located. He holds a promotional bag that the Office for Kosovo usually gives to guests.

The Office for Kosovo failed to respond to a request for Information Freedom about who Downson met there, but a source from this office did not rule out the possibility he went there as a guest of one of the employees.

In June, after a visit that KTI described Kosovo as the “bandit nation occupied by Islamists”, Dowson posted a video on the KTI site explaining the urgent need to send fears and bulletproof vests to groups in northern Kosovo in preparation for an attack by “mymmysmatians”.

“Some of these brave volunteers, they want practical things like night wax, tactical vests, food, ration packs, fears (...) because it will start at any moment”, he said in the video, which had been removed this week after BIRN contacted him, but which has been kept off-line from BIRN journalists.

Other way across the website, the KTI in an explosive way requested donations for “droon and vest” to be given to Kosovo's north as part of the “emergency call”.

This appeal was not unprecedented: Downson made a delivery of bulletproof vests and drones in 2016 to paramilitary volunteers working along the Turkish-Bulgarian border to prevent immigrants from crossing the border, according to the video and photos posted on social media on the KTI site.

A news release in June on the KTI site reports on a three-day fact-finding and assisting “commission in Kosovo”. It features a picture of three men on the forehead of a nationalist mural in Mitrovica with their faces darkened by the overlapping Kalseriac helmets. They are described as our “people in the Christian enclave in northern Mitrovica”.

An identical picture, showing Damnjanovqi, Griffin and Downson, was published in Damnjanovic's Facebook profile.

In July another published news was entitled “behind enemy lines-The Mission of Fact and Supporter of the KTI in the depths of Kosovo occupied”.

It offers a detailed mirror of KTI's trip to northern Kosovo “at the beginning of the summer”, even though BIRN found it impossible to confirm whether it was about the same trip Dawson, Griffin and Damnanovq attended.

It includes a picture of two people, in traditional medieval costumes of the cavalry Templars with their dark faces, holding a check of 120 thousand Serbian dinars - about 1000 euros - for the brave Christian <x0-murgum, which co-ordinates charity efforts for the constantly oppressed and abused Christian families by being caught in his country's heart occupied by Muslims<1>

The KTI reported that during the trip through Kosovo, unnamed representatives had also met <x0-reservists who offer basic protection for Kosovo Serbs”.

We all know this is coming, just because we don't know when”, an unnamed reserve was quoted as saying in the KTI report. But when that happens, if we are able to turn the alarm on and alert all our people, it will make a huge difference in how many people will survive and what will be the result of the attack on Christian Serbia”.

We need to hold on for 24 hours before the public pressures Serbia's government to send the military and before Russia makes a motion to the UN Security Council. So 24 hours is all we need and your help can help us to provide that time”.

The article says that the KTI wants to offer surveillance cameras and “high-quality radio connections for Christian enclaves” to help protect, adding that “we are already almost our target of US$5 000”.

This is desperately necessary but, as always, we can't do anything without chastity and support A Persistent USA”, continues the report.

Damnanovic told BIRN in an interview that he had accompanied the British pair in Kosovo in order to offer a very modest “” for a monastery as part of their “Marcencing political”. He added that “KTI is something behind which Downon” stands.

Downson, who recently described himself in a video as the leader of “one of the world's largest media groups” and who is “a powerful and serious provider”, said in a written reply. I can't confirm anything. I'm a man with a small business and a Christian worker”.

I don't have formal reports with anyone in Serbia or Kosovo”, he added.

I'm a simple man trying to live a good life, not hurting anybody and helping a lot of people, but my primary obligation is to help my Christians everywhere they need. I don't break the law, I don't get involved in domestic politics, but as a Christian I never refuse to help my brothers and sisters anywhere on the planet”, he said.

Griffin didn't answer the comment requests.

Vulnerators in two wars

Members of the Dragon Order are involved in the patrol of the Bulgarian-Turkish border, Damnanovic told BIRN, and this was where he met Downon.

But Damnjanovic insisted that the delivery of equipment outside the Mitrovica church in September had nothing to do with KTI. He also said he and Downson have now divided the streets due to ideological differences.

In an interview for B The INR, Damnanovic, who is passionate and campaigning for the restoration of the Serbian royal family, did not deny that it was related to the shipment, and at times offered details about how this shipment had arrived in Kosovo, but also said he and his group were not directly responsible for it.

What you're saying is that I've taken a photo with equipment”, he said. I don't know where you got the information that they were from us. I can explain that this (phothography) is the same as personal dialogue with some people for whom it was important to avoid reaching northern Kosovo”, he added in a lactonic response.

He later explained that the equipment observed in northern Kosovo had not been imported through Serbia, but through “a third country”, and that they were not bought with the intention to molest someone but “to prevent the harassment of people who do not molest anyone in northern Kosovo”.

“The exclusive use of these resources is reactive, not proactive”, he added. He was less clear about who had financed and sent these devices and who accepted them, claiming he did not know about them.

He insisted, however, that the Dragon Order was ready to protect Serbs in northern Kosovo. And one large section of ours were volunteers in the two wars (Bosnia and Kosovo) that happened, and we just pray to God that we don't feel old if there's a drop of”.

The Kosovo Order's representative is Momcilo Arlov, a former Serb soldier turned civil society activist in Mitrovica, arrested in 2011 in Serbia with guns in his car at the time Kosovo's north was experiencing the worst period of violence after nearly a decade.

Arlov told BIRN that he spent 14 months in custody until the Court of Appeals eventually made a decision to follow him on the basis of Serbia's Criminal Code military section.

He said he was later charged with “the translation of the official gun” and that the case was closed without being tried. B IERN could not independently verify his claims, even if Arlov was being pursued or for what.

Since his release, he has been working with the Order to send aid to Kosovo Serbs, Damnjanovic explained.

Arlov again promoted the contradiction in February when a number of Albanian-language media in Kosovo reported that he is at the helm of a local group “Vukovi” that plays a game that simulates military maneuver using shooting weapons.

The Facebook group '%Vukovi includes photos of nationalist symbols and murals in northern Kosovo.

After the news, Arlov left being the leader but insisted he didn't commit any violations. He seems to receive the support of the Kosovo Police, Whose director, Shpend Maxun, told Kosovo's Parliament that the group was registered as a sports NGO and presented no danger.

But his NGO's license was withdrawn the same month from the Public Administration Ministry following security services advice and an unnamed NGO, according to an official decision.

Arlov told BIRN that he himself had requested a license freeze in order to stop the <x0-manipulation political and security that aimed to fuel further interethnic hatred and potentially trigger violent actions in northern Kosovo”.

He told BIRN the equipment shown in Damnanovik's photo-multipular vests, and military clothes -- were equipment for use in CHAairsoft) while fearing to shoot promotional videos.

Arlov told BIRN that he sees no danger from Kosovo institutions and that he was unaware of the presence of paramilitary units in northern Kosovo.

If this unfortunate and unwanted scenario comes, northern Serbs will protect their families”, he added.

Communication Canal with Russia

Arlov is also the local NGO director of the Serbian-Russian Friendship Association, one of the many links between the Order of Dragon and Russia, Serbia's major ally on the issue of Kosovo independence, even though he denies any contact with the Russians through the group.

Russia has used its veto of the Security Council to prevent any efforts to recognise Kosovo by the UN.

Damnanovki's Facebook account and Order site tell of regular meetings and joint events between his group and Leonid Savin, editor of the Katehonews site, whose president is Konstantin Malfeev, a Russian businessman based on US sanctions for his ties with the pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.

According to the Order's site, the group's leader, Prince Vladimir Karadjordjevic, has also held at least two meetings with Savin's close associates, Alexander Dugin, a Russian philosopher whose Western media are referred to as “Putin's Rasputin” and “Putin's favourite physophilosoof”.

Prince Vladimir Karadjordjevic is grandson of the former King of Yugoslavia, the First Alexander Karadjordevic.

Bloomberg reported in February that Dugin and Malofeev played a key role in Putin's reconciliation with Erdogan after Turkey had crashed a Russian fighter plane over Syria.

Savin and Dugin are expected to open a school in Belgrade next year to spread their pro-rus and anti-Western vision.

Damnjanovic mentioned that while Dugin and Savin were involved in projects with the Dragon Order, they were not directly linked to Kosovo.

For example, the Dragon Order has organised several speeches for Savin in Belgrade, Nis, Novi Sad and other towns”, he explained.

But he acknowledged that he hoped Russian ties would play a strategic role in alerting the Kremlin for what he said has a potential for attacking Kosovo Serbs by Pristina authorities.

“What is the only link that can be found between our friends from Russia and us is a communication channel that will be used if it comes to Albanian aggression against the Serb population in northern Kosovo”, he said.

Asked how this channel of communication would be used, he said “printing the telephone number to show you that action started on eliminating Serbs in Kosovo”.

After that, he said he expects the “people who receive this information to send him to the Russian government”.

Savin told BIRN that he did not have “official co-operation” with any organisation in Serbia. “So I can't say about working with the organisation mentioned (The Dragon Order)”, Savin said in a written statement.

As for Damjanovic's suggestion that he and Dugin could offer a link to the Russian government, he said: “We have not offered any assistance in Kosovo (sic). I've never been there and we don't have a plan. Our policy is non-intervention”.

Dugin did not answer the email-sent questions, but at a public event in June, a video of which is online, he said he is aware of Kosovo's “infrastructure plans for Kosovo “ethnic cleansing”.

We (Russia) want to have realistic information about the plan. We want communications made between Kosovo Serbs and Russia”, he said.

“Any action against Serbs, if we are ready, will lead to a reaction from Russia... but we (Russia) should be informed and hope that someone will inform us. We can help in this critical situation”, he said.

This research was produced by BIRN as part of the Project Testing Documents for a Better Governance.