The head of the “Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo” threatens to demolish Serbian barricades in the north of the region
The "Minister of Internal Affairs" of the self-proclaimed "Republic of Kosovo" Celal Svechlja said that the security situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija had worsened and said that if KFOR forces did not respond, the Kosovo police would independently remove the barricades set up by the Serbs.
A PolitNavigator correspondent reports this.
“KFOR [the NATO-led international force responsible for ensuring stability in Kosovo] has been asking for the barricades to be removed for some time. Now we are waiting for them to fulfill their duties. But after 13 days, when we have police blocked at the Jarine and Brnjak checkpoints, the situation is getting worse.
For the sake of greater stability, we are waiting for those who installed the barricades or KFOR forces to do this. But the wait is coming to an end, I must repeat that we have all the necessary capabilities to remove the barricades,” Svechlya said.
The official confirmed that the Serb Dejan Pantic, whose illegal detention was the reason for the erection of barricades, is at the Kosovo police base near the town of Leposavic in northern Kosovo.
Svechlja said that the transfer of Pantic to the detention center in Pristina is a priority for the authorities of the “Republic of Kosovo” and that they have sought help from international partners to do this.
“The removal of the barricades will allow the Kosovo police to carry out this transfer easily and safely,” Svechlja said, adding that the request for Pantic’s release was “unacceptable” for Pristina.
At a protest on December 22 in the villages of Rudar and Zvecan in northern Kosovo, Goran Rakić, chairman of the Serb List party, which represents the interests of Kosovo Serbs in front of Pristina, announced the conditions for the removal of the barricades. He demanded “the release of arrested Serbs, an end to the practice of “hit lists” and the withdrawal of special units of the Kosovo police from the north of the region.”
As PolitNavigator reported , Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija held a mass protest rally in Pristina on December 22 against government abuses.