Arrested in Kosovo for inscription “Kosovo is Serbia”, members of Montenegro's Army

Two of the three persons arrested in Kosovo for the inscription “Kosovo is Serbia” are members of the Montenegrin Army, Montenegrin Defence Minister Dragan Krapovic confirmed on Wednesday.

“at this moment, the two are officially on medical leave and it is about good and exemplary army members”, Krapovic said in a communique.

Kosovo police arrested three people from Niksic because the license plates they went to the Decani monastery on November 24th carried the “Kosovo inscription is Serbia”.

Two days after being sent to custody, the Foundation Court in Part ordered a month's detention for Rajko Krivokapiq 34, Marinko Jovanovic 24, and Dragutin Llatovic 24 years old.

The prosecutor in Pec accuses them of the criminal act “inciting hatred and failure to endure”.

Their lawyer, Jovana Filipovic, told the media in Kosovo that she would file a complaint, stressing that the Court's decision was very severe.

The inscriptions presenting Kosovo as part of Serbia, Kosovo authorities treat it as provocation and inciting hatred and national failure.

Niksic Mayor Marko Kovacevic, who is the official of the New Serbian Democracy Party (Noova Srpska Democratic Party) the NSD), part of the recently disbanded Democratic Prorus Front, has reacted by condemning the actions of Kosovo institutions and calling on those arrested that “face the difficulties that have been faced with”.

In his Facebook profile, he said the Montenegrin Embassy in Kosovo has not reacted to protecting three citizens from Niksic, even though he has been contacted by people close to those arrested.

His party, led by Andrija Ma persecuted, the chairman of Montenegro's Parliament, has called on Montenegro's state institutions and the international community to react.

“This incident is just one of many terror cases against the Serb people in Kosovo, which has already extended to Montenegrin citizens”, the NSD statement said.

Even the Serbian Orthodox Church (KOS) in Montenegro has reacted, launching “a fierce protest against the southern Serbian province” for the arrest of believers, as well as a protest against Montenegrin authorities.

“This incident requires the harshest sentence for the humiliating absence of Montenegro's state response, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Government, which failed to protect its citizens, said by the KOS to Montenegro.

State institutions have not been promoted in connection with the arrest of three young people from Montenegro.

The pro-Serbian political parties in Montenegro, as well as the Serbian Orthodox Church, do not recognise Kosovo as an independent state, but consider it Serbia's territory.

Montenegro has recognised Kosovo's independence in 2008, during the rule of the Democratic Party of Socialists, which collapsed from power in August 2020. / REL/