Fox News: Attack in the north, part of Serbia, Russia's broad plan

New explosive evidence from Kosovo claiming Serbia's president was aware of an alleged attack that killed a police officer last week has sparked tensions between the two Balkan countries.

At least 30 armed people opened fire on police in the Serb majority village of Banjska and then attacked an Orthodox monastery, killing a police officer and injuring two others.

Kosovo police confiscated 24 SUV vehicles, 29 antitank launcher grenades, 150 explosive dynamite, 142 mortar shells, 75 hand grenades, seven rocket grenade launchers and eight opposing mines.

These were not just small weapons that fell from a truck in the 1990s or purchased from the Balkan version of Walmart. Clearly, these weapons must originate from a state source, and the most obvious origin seems to be Belgrade”, says Leon Hartwell, senior non-resident associate at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, for “Fox News Digital”

Diplomatic sources in the region say about “Fox News Digital” that the attack was part of a larger and intentional plan by Serbia, with Russia's help, to fuel a rebellion in Kosovo's troubled north. The rebellion would serve as a pretext for the Serbian Army to enter northern Kosovo and justify the move as “protection of Serb minorities” and that Serbia's Orthodox cultural and religious heritage was at stake.

Serbia's ambassador to the US dismissed claims that Belgrade had any preliminary knowledge of the attack. “There was absolutely no knowledge, this event is a major political and human blow to Serbia and Serbs, and the authors are being brought to justice in Serbia”, Djuric told “Fox News Digital”

Milan Radoic, deputy chairman of the main Serbian political party in Kosovo and under US sanctions for criminal activity, was arrested Tuesday and took full responsibility for planning and participating in the attack, but said he acted without instructions from the Serbian government.

In an interview Monday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq promised that Radojic and all those responsible for the attack would be held accountable.

There is growing concern in foreign policy circles that a scenario of the type of Russian occupation is taking place in Kosovo. Vuciq, who recently said Serbia would protect ethnic Serb minorities in northern Kosovo, is using the same argument that Russian President Vladimir Putin offered in February 2022 for the protection of Russians in eastern Ukraine before the invasion.

“Modes operandi Theirs is analog with Russia's in some respects, from Serbian official propaganda for alleged violations of the rights of Serbs in Kosovo as an excuse for the military invasion in Kosovo, to efforts to delegate, intimidate and eliminate any Kosovo Serb who is critical of Vuciqi's policies, for using Wagner-like structures to pursue their territorial goals”, Kosovo Ambassador to the US Ilir Dulli for <1x> Fox News Digital”

The Biden administration has voiced concerns about Serbia's recent behaviour, and many observers in the region share confidence that the plan was very elaborate and very important that the Serbian president or anyone in the Serbian government had not known about the attack.

That attack was well co-ordinated and well planned”, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday.

“This is not the type of an attack that is carried out by accident or ad hoc or some small group”, Kirby added.

The Kosovo government through a communique said the Serbian armed forces have shifted to three different directions along the northern border with Serbia. Serbian Ambassador to the US told “Fox News Digital” that his country is not moving to the northern border and is actually withdrawing its forces.

Vucic once again condemned the attack that took place in the village of Banjska, but strongly denied claims that the Serbian Army is amassing forces at the border, calling the charges a <x0-judgmental” against Serbia.

Analysts say violence and hot rhetoric has created the most turbulent period in Serbian-Kosovo relations since Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but other experts are sceptical of a near war.

“While the last round of escalations between Kosovo and Serbia is very disturbing, a comprehensive war or a Russian-like invasion remains very impossible in this region”, he told “Fox News Digital” Helena Ivanov, associate with Henry Jackson Society.

Ivanov said this is largely due to the presence of NATO's international peacekeeping forces in the region, which acts as a strong obstacle to Kosovo and Serbia.

According to analysts, Vuciqi has always tried to balance his relations with Belgrade's traditional defence Russia while trying to remain in Europe's good graces. The volcano has been able to maintain its balance, even though the pressure from the West has increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Serbia officially applied for EU membership in 2009 and the ongoing dispute with Kosovo, and the recent bloodshed involving Belgrade is the biggest obstacle to EU membership.

It is essential not to underestimate Vuciki's potential for involvement in actions that could destabilise the entire Balkan region. He is 100 per cent willing to use destabilisors, such as Kosovo Serb terrorist organisations, to plant instability within Kosovo. This, on the other hand, can lead to significant consequences throughout the region and beyond. Remember, what happens in the Balkans does not remain in the Balkans”, CEPA's Hartwell warned. /Klankosova. tv