The change of measure to house arrest of the former Kosova police officer Dejan Pantic whose arrest caused multiple roadblocks erection for almost three weeks in the north, now was used as a pretext for de-escalating the situation in the north of Mitrovica. This in fact, Pantic`s release was one of the requests from the Kosova Serbs in exchange for the barricades removal. Immediately after Pantic`s release, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had a meeting with the Serb representatives of Kosova in the Serbian Army camp in Raška, next to him, Petar Petkovic the Head of Office for Kosova in the Serbian Government, and Zvonko Veselinovic, the vice-chairman of the Serbian List, the latter was recently declared by the USA and Great Britain persona non-grata together with Milan Radojcic, both suspected for organized crime and corruption. They are among the most influential people who operate in the north of Mitrovica and are closely connected to Vucic, practically the crime bosses in the north of Mitrovica.
From the meeting in Raska, Vucic pronounced the change in measure for Pantic as a ‘symbolic victory’ for Serbia by asked kindly Serbs of Kosova to start removing the barricades, assuring them that there is a written agreement which guarantees that “people who were at the barricades will not be prosecuted”, adding that he will “accept any decision” of the Serbs from Kosova and that he expects the Serbs to “come with demands for him and for Serbia”.
The victimization and amnesty of the masked and armed gangs, which for 20 days kept the north of Mitrovica blocked and every day are keeping Serbian citizens of this part terrified, it is being done by the Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic. On Wednesday, he spoke certainty that these people will not be prosecuted. We are talking about masked and armed people who set up barricades all over the north of Kosova, who injured a Kosova policeman with firearms, attacked dozens of journalists with hand grenades and shock bombs, EULEX and KFOR were attacked too. This right to exercise violence in the north of Kosova and the amnesty of criminals is further strengthened by the Joint Statement on the Escalating Tensions in the North of Kosova dated December 28, which, among other things, says, “We welcome the assurances of the leadership of Kosova confirming that no lists of Kosova Serb citizens to be arrested or prosecuted for peaceful protests/barricades exist. At the same time, rule of law must be respected, and any form of violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” The only question that comes to my mind is, since when masked and armed persons who barricade the freedom of movement for weeks and threaten citizens every day, are considered peaceful protesters, since when barricades bullets and bombs are considered peaceful means of protest?
Above all, Vucic, during his appearance in Raska from where he appeals to the Serbs of Kosova for removing the barricades, mentions that the Serbs’ requests are written on paper and there is a guarantee from the international community that these requests will be fulfilled. Consequently, this leave room for thinking that there is a secret agreement in which Vucic is called, but we do not know this yet, or if all this is a part of his game for internal consumption. Until now, the Government of Kosova has denied that there were talks about removing barricades from the north. While Vucic decided when the barricades will be removed within the territory of Kosova, the Government of Kosova is also attributing this success to itself. Kosova Prime Minister Albin Kurti, regarding the barricades, stated that it is good that they are being removed without the intervention of the police. While both sides are presenting the removal of roadblocks from the north as their victory, the losers seem to be only the citizens of that part of Kosova.
Until the middle of January, when a meeting is expected to take place between the high representatives of both sides, we hope that there will be no repetition of such “peaceful” protests. Otherwise the tensions in the north are not new, and they will not stop until the final agreement between Kosova and Serbia will be reached. Such a thing seems quite difficult to be done now, even though there is a deadline for an agreement, according to the Franco-German plan until the end of March 2023.
