At least 30 armed gunmen entered a monastery in northern Kosovo, located in a village near the Serbian border on September 24. The gunmen engaged in a shootout with Kosovan security forces. Police have arrested four suspects, all of whom have found radios, weapons, and ammunition. One Kosovoan officer is dead and 3 are injured from the day-long shootout.
RTV Klan, KFOR, and other investigators have found Serbian ID cards, Kosovan ID cards with Serbian names, thousands of euros in cash, maps, heavy weaponry, pieces of paper that seem to outline battle plans, Serbian flags, and a message on another piece of paper that is a rallying cry all in the monastery calling for the takeover of Northern Kosovo.
Evidence Found in the Monastery in Northern Kosovo. Thank you to RTK Live for the Pictures.
Why is all this happening? Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, following a long conflict between Serbians and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Serbia refuses to acknowledge Kosovo’s independence along with Russia and China, still laying claim to the entirety of Kosovo. Renewed violence has stemmed from a municipality issue in the North of Kosovo starting in 2021.
In September of 2021, Kosovo tried to get Serbs living in Kosovo to reregister their cars and documents under Kosovoan plates. Serbians living in the north refused and a series of firefights occurred throughout 2022. Serbian officials resigned from their local municipality governmental positions but still reported to Serbia. In order to fix this issue, the Kosovo government held local elections in April 2023 in the North of Kosovo recognizing the calls from the U.S. and EU to prevent any more violence. Serbians living in the north boycotted those elections which resulted in only Albanians on the ballots, resulting in Albanians being elected.
Serbians living in the north were not happy with this outcome, though they boycotted their chance to be voted into power when they make up the majority in northern Kosovo, and protested outside municipality government buildings. Prime Minister Albin Kurti put pressure on to keep control of the municipalities which resulted in added violence and condemnation from the international community.
Is Kurti being too overprotective and wanting to not represent the Serbs in the North? This is where High Representative of the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and U.S. Deputy Assistance Secretary overseeing the Western Balkans have it wrong. Kurti and Kosovan President Vjosa Osmani do want a fair representation of Serbs in the North of Kosovo. This has been a decade-long agreement both sides have agreed to. Locals in Kosovo tell NGF that Both Borrell and Escobar do not understand the fear Kosovars have that if the Serbs are granted positions in the North, what’s the guarantee that President of Serbia Alexandar Vucic won’t put pressure to get more municipality positions? Vucic wants one thing and that’s to regain all of Kosovo.
Today, NATO, EU, and local security forces thwarted a Serbian terrorist attack. Vucic has denied any claim that he sponsored this attack. The EU has not publicly stated that these were Serbians responsible for this attack though local media sources and local citizens tell NGF that they have found substantial evidence that these are indeed Serbian far-right extremists in the North of Kosovo which have funneled weapons from Serbia.
Author: Aleksandros Spaho
