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The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
must warn that the incursion of the Banjska group into the north of
Kosovo is an attempt by Belgrade to provoke conflicts, so that the
Serbian army would then enter to protect the Serbian people in the
north and thus achieve a division of Kosovo. This intrusion was to
be expected considering the behavior of Belgrade during the last few
months. The speech given by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić at
the United Nations, the increased presence of units of the Serbian
Army near the border with Kosovo, street graffiti that read 'When
our army returns to Kosovo', which have flooded not only Belgrade,
but also other parts of Serbia, are just some of the warning signs
leading up to potential attacks such as the one that occurred in
Banjska.
Although the culprit in Belgrade, the one who is
directly responsible for this attack, remains unknown, Serbia has
crossed a red line that the West cannot tolerate. The brutal
campaign of dehumanization of the Kosovo Albanians and discrediting
the Kosovo leadership, which has been going on since Albin Kurti
came to power, has greatly radicalized public opinion in Serbia,
thus mobilizing citizens for towards new conflicts. A consensus has
almost been created in public opinion, defined not only by the
politicians in power and their media, but also by the majority of
the academic elite, that Albin Kurti is solely responsible for the
breakdown of all negotiations.
The Kosovo Serbs, onto whom President Vučić is
trying to shift responsibility, have been his hostages throughout,
just as the Serbs in the region had been hostages and subsequently
victims of the Milošević regime. If Vučić, as he claims, truly was
not aware of what was happening, the question arises as to who is
the leading figure in Belgrade. The day of mourning that Serbia
declared on the occasion of the murder of three terrorists
represents Serbia’s threat not only to Kosovo, but to everyone in
the region.
The incursion of the Banjska group into the north
of Kosovo is a serious indicator of where things might go and that
they might be repeated unless there is a policy reset of the Western
international community in the Balkans. We call on the Quint
countries to consistently demand from Serbia to implement the
already set demands – the introduction of sanctions against Russia
and the recognition of Kosovo.
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