The German Embassy in Pristina has urged Serbia to do more to reduce tensions with Kosovo rather than just calling for Pristina to stop its actions, saying that the calls should apply to both sides equally.
In a response on Wednesday, the German Embassy said it took note of the recent letter from the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Petar Petkovic, who asked the West to stop "Pristina's escalating actions" regarding the planned construction of two new bridges over the Ibar River in Mitrovica.
Petkovic accused Kosovo's acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, of using the bridges over the Ibar - the river that divides the Albanian-majority Mitrovica in the south and the Serb-majority Mitrovica in the north - for "election campaigning", as local elections in Kosovo are held this fall.
"By announcing that the bridges will open in October, before the local elections, Kurti is consciously putting the issue of security at the service of the election campaign... The EU must stop Kurti in his plans before it is too late," Petkovic said.
The embassy said that, while it has repeatedly called on and is still calling on the Kosovo Government to refrain from actions that could escalate the situation, such calls also apply to Serbia.
“It is not the Government of Kosovo that is failing to implement legal measures against those responsible for the horrific attack in Banjska,” she said, referring to the attack on the Kosovo Police by a group of armed Serbs in September 2023 in the north, where a police sergeant was killed.
“The fact that the self-proclaimed leader of that attack, Kosovo Serb and former deputy leader of the Serbian List, Radoićić, publicly admitted responsibility and yet continues to move freely on Serbian territory deeply undermines efforts to build trust and accountability in the region,” she said.
Kosovo issued an arrest warrant for Radoicic and has repeatedly asked Serbia to extradite him, but this has not happened despite pressure from the West for Belgrade to cooperate.
Three of the 45 defendants in the Banjska case are facing trial in Kosovo.
Referring to a German saying “Erstmal vor der eigenen Haustür kehren” – which in Albanian means: first deal with your own affairs, she said that Serbia “should establish order in its own backyard before constantly criticizing Kosovo for its decisions.”
"The failure to prosecute the perpetrators of violence is as reprehensible and counterproductive as any uncoordinated action by Pristina," she said.
Earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that Belgrade had protested to Western powers after the acting Kosovo government laid the foundation stones for the construction of two new bridges over the Ibar River.
"They have done many things and now we have seen that they have laid the foundation stones for two bridges, without obtaining the consent of the Serbian people and the people of North Mitrovica, because this would mean a final exodus," Vučić said.
One bridge is planned to be for pedestrians and the other for vehicles.
Kosovo authorities said the project, worth around 3 million euros, aims to improve traffic and promote cooperation between residents on both sides of the river./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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