For Banjska, Serbia ignores “elefant in room”

In the September 24th attack, 2023, Kosovo police officer Africa Bunnjak was killed, while in the subsequent shootout three Serb attackers were also killed.

Vuciq said at the time that armed men were local Kosovo Serbs, “who could no longer suffer the terror of Kurti”, and denied that Serbia was in charge.

Albin Kurti is the only one guilty. Albin Kurti is the only one who wants conflict and war. Nobody else wants to fight and fight but Albin Kurt. His vital desire is to put us into battle with NATO and that other desire does not have”, Vuciq said on the day of the attack.

Kurti, who has made control of Kosovo's majority Serb areas key elements of his policy, blamed Serbia's state leadership, saying the attack has been organised with its support.

Vuciq pledged that Serbia would investigate the suspects, as well as the origin of the weapons Kosovo police seized after the attack.

A year after, Belgrade's High Public Prosecutor says investigations are continuing; there is no established indictment; and Serbian businessman from Kosovo Milan Radojic, who claimed responsibility for the attack, is believed to be free in Serbia.

Maja Bollosh, researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, says that despite the weight of the attack, authorities in Serbia “do not want truth and responsibility to be discovered”.

According to her, the public in Serbia knows that Radojic is close to power. He is seen at several Vuciqi meetings with representatives of Serbs from Kosovo, while his companies are engaged in various infrastructure projects in Serbia.

If Radociq is not charged and the probe into Banjska does not advance, then we can say he, in some way, enjoys state protection. The moment Radojcik and his associates are tried, when the properties are confiscated, when there is clear distance between the power and the jobs Radojic does, then we can say there is a real change of politics”, says Belarus.

With minimal media coverage in Serbia, Belarus says Banjska in this country has been forgotten “within the month”, so there has been no citizens' response to Serbia's policy.

Independent subx0Medias, which have reported more widely on Banjska, have no major impact or insight into the population. The control of the media by power has caused this event to be printed and not to be spoken of particularly for those involved in the attack, nor for possible involvement of the state”, Mollosh says.

That sentiment also separates Aleksandar Popov from the Centre for Regioning in Serbia. According to him, it is the tactic of the president of Serbia that such incidents darken with new crises.

“Banjska, for a month, has been forgotten. Vuciq follows Milosevic's logic: When you have a problem, then create a bigger problem so that the old one can be forgotten”, Popov says.

Both analysts say the West is on the other side of the medal. Concerned about Russia and China's influence in Serbia, the West tolerates many Vuciki actions and is more interested in strategic stability than in strict responsibility.

To argue that position, they cite “review of the Western diplomats against an attack by masked persons against students of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad on September 23rd, where people of Vuciqi's party were suspected of infiltrated.

The “West, instead of punishing Serbia, apparently caressing it and forgetting that Serbia has not imposed sanctions on Russia. The West does not care what rule of law is like in Serbia, how are the power reports with the media and many other”, Popov says.

A year after the attack on Banjska, the United States and the European Union reiterated their calls for all involved in the event to be held accountable. The EU said it expects Serbia to take the necessary steps to ensure the suspects are accountable.

Less than a week before the first anniversary of the attack, the US and Serbia signed agreements on co-operation in the field of energy. Similarly, Serbia made arrangements with the EU for the mine and France for the purchase of combat aircraft, Rafale.

Popov says Vuciq understands the power the West possesses. His rhetoric may serve to promote domestic support, but it is his relations with Western powers that dictate the stability of his administration.

Belarus agrees. He says Vuciq, currently, has a careful approach to Kosovo, because he understands the balance required to maintain his political position.

“I think he does not care to take any unilateral action that would lead to the escalation of the situation in northern Kosovo, because it would endanger not only his political position but also the support he has from Western leaders, as well as the Western agreements on lithium, the shipments of weapons to Ukraine and Israel, as well as some infrastructure projects that are under way. So, I don't expect Vuciq in the near future to have an interest in provoking or in promoting any security incident”, says Belarus.

What is clear is that the attack has further exacerbated strained relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

James Ker-Lindsey, professor at London School of Economics, says the situation is filled with confusion, as available information is limited and based mainly on accusations and counteraccuss.

“It is certain to say that the whole situation has further radicalised relations between Belgrade and Pristina. They have steadily deteriorated in recent years, but now they have affected an even lower level and tensions are much higher than before. In this respect I think the attack on Banjska has had a very serious and potentially long-term impact on efforts to normalise relations between Belgrade and Pristina”, Ker-Landsay says.

In Kosovo, the Special Prosecutor has already filed an indictment for the Bansjka attack case, in which 45 people have been involved. It also mentions Radoici, who is described as the “leader of the terrorist group who has attempted to annex Kosovo's north and unite Serbia”, but is not mentioned in Serbia's involvement.

As a result, Kosovo Interior Minister Jelal Svecla has described the indictment as incomplete. In an interview given Radio Free Europe this week, he has said there is evidence of the involvement of at least top Serbian military commanders.

“We have unequivocal evidence that this terrorist group has held military exercises in Pasulanske Livade, which is an official barracks of Serbia's military, where Vuciq goes almost every month and supervises various trainings of members of different army or police units. And, surprisingly, in the indictment is neither the commander of this barracks nor the deputy commander of the barracks, nor the commander of the Army of Serbia, nor even Vuciq himself if there is direct connection to this attack”, Svechla has said.

Finally, what can be said one year after the attack? According to analysts, not much. While the rulers in Serbia “ignore the elephant in the room”, while those in Kosovo point to guilt, ordinary citizens will continue to look at the repetition of the same dramas with distrust. Peace will remain far apart until the leaders of the two countries replace charges of counter-accus with a sincere dialogue. / REL