a minute agoKidnapping three police officers took place by Serbian gendarmerie, Kumanovo agreement violated
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)On July 14th, Serbian special forces entered Kosovo territory and kidnapped three Kosovo Police members in the country's north. So they had declared by the Kosovo Interior Ministry, while during yesterday, Prime Minister Albin Kurti also gave details from this kidnapping, presenting evidence with photographs that the kidnapping occurred [...]
On July 14th, Serbian special forces entered Kosovo territory and kidnapped three Kosovo Police members in the country's north.
So they had declared by the Kosovo Interior Ministry, while during yesterday, Prime Minister Albin Kurti also gave details from this kidnapping, presenting evidence with photographs that the kidnapping occurred within the territory of the Republic of Kosovo.
The location where the dining table is located is 7 meters from the police car. Just where we highlighted it from June 15th: a mile inland along the illegally blocked road, and 300m, respectively, 670m, from both sides off the border inside Kosovo”, Kurti wrote on his Facebook account.
But, according to Serbian authorities, these three members had entered Serbia's territory at the moment of the kidnapping.
Klakosova.tv has interviewed a security expert and an expert on international relations to ask how they have seen these developments, and both estimate Serbia committed flagrant violations with the arrest of three Kosovo police officers.
According to security expert Ramadan Qehaja, the kidnapping of three Kosovo police officers is done by the Serbian gendarmerie, and stresses that Serbia is the only country in Europe guarding the gendarmerie border.
“As the connoisseur of security issues, given what I have heard and praised the situation, the kidnapping or arrest of three of our police officers has been done on Kosovo's territory and the one from the Serbian gendarmerie. It is widely known that the border between Serbia and Kosovo is secured by Serbian gendarmerie and not by Serbian police, which is the only case in Europe to become the security of the gendarmerie border line. As for the opinion, I wanted to say that gendarmerie is something more capable and prepared than ordinary police means it is almost comparable to the army of Serbia”, Qehaja estimates.
On the other hand, he says this action of the Serbian gendarmerie took place at the order of Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, for the purposes of official Belgrade.
This gendarmerie has made the recovery of three police officers and there can be no dilemma. It has been done for the purposes of official Belgrade, with instructions from the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vuciq, to pressure the Kosovo government to release the three Serbs arrested because of the expression of violence against KFOR, the Kosovo Police and journalists, which is not normal”, the security expert says.
Furthermore, Qehaja adds that Kosovo police officers have acted well that they have not resisted the Serbian gendarmerie, given tense reports between Kosovo and Serbia.
“They have been on a current vacation and have been conveyed for a long time where they are found and how they act. They are, in effect, found in a well that is specifically organized by this gendarmerie, which is said to have been more than 15 people. This means that those [Kosovo Police members] have acted well that they have not resisted in view of the report, with forces facing them”, he points out.
But he estimates that this case should be a lesson for the Kosovo Police so that measures in the future can be taken to prevent such a scenario.
I think this should be a practical school for our border police to take measures so that there will be a higher operational readiness and avoid the daily routine of patrol, as long as it is known that we have to deal with a gendarmerie which is able to do whatever is possible just to destabilise that part of the territory of Kosovo”, Qehaja concludes.
While international relations connoisseur Arbnor Sadiku estimates Serbia has violated Kumanovo's agreement with the kidnappings of July 14th.
The kidnapping of three Kosovo Police members by Serbian authorities within Kosovo's territory is a violation of the Kumanovo Agreement, with which the war in Kosovo ended in 1999. These kidnappings were the pretext of Serbia's alleged possession of illegal weapons, which Kosovo police actually had with permission. Kosovo should use all diplomatic channels to do what is possible to return the three police officers to their country”, Sadiku has said.
Despite calls from the international factor for the immediate release of three Kosovo police officers, the same continues to be held in Serbia even after a week of being kidnapped. They have even been assigned a 30-day detention measure.
The US State Department through a reaction has asked Vuciqi for the immediate and unconditional release of three Kosovo police officers.
Similarly, the US special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, and the EU's for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, have asked Serbia immediately to release Kosovo police officers on Monday (21/06/2023).
Great Britain and Germany have made similar requests. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said that the first step towards de-scaling the situation in the north is the unconditional release of three policemen on Serbia's part.
To everyone's surprise, Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, also asked Vuciqi for their release.
For three Kosovo policemen, please, dear Alexander, think, the enemies are eager to harm Serbia, it is such a case in which I think it would be good to hear Hungary's recommendation and return it to three Kosovo Albanians. I think it would help you advance your cause. Therefore, I am asking you to think about this”, the first of the Hungarian government stressed, during a meeting he held with Vuciqi in the Serbian town of Palic.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has also requested their release.
