Albania, Croatia urge West, EU to implement measures against Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia

The prime ministers of Albania and Croatia on Monday condemned the alleged violence by a Serbian armed group in northern Kosovo and called on the West and the European Union to take measures against Serbia.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his visiting Albanian counterpart Edi Rama expressed concern at a joint press conference in the capital Zagreb about recent clashes in northern Kosovo and later the Serbian government's announcement of a day of national mourning.

Rama said the crime and killing of a police officer, as well as the glorification of those who committed them as heroes, were unacceptable in Europe because it was against European values.

Plenkovic, for his part, said Belgrade's decision to hold a day of mourning almost implies identification with what happened in northern Kosovo.

According to Plenkovic, an investigation will be conducted in order to fully determine what happened, after which the EU special envoy for dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade will propose measures.

Last week Serbia decided to declare Wednesday a day of national mourning following clashes in northern Kosovo – an area near the Serbian border that is home to a large ethnic Serb population – between police and armed men, killing one police officer and injuring another.

On Sept. 24, a clash broke out in the village of Banjska when a group of armed Serbs blocked a bridge with two trucks. A shootout erupted after the group opened fire on police, leaving one police officer dead and another injured.

The area has been the scene of unrest since April, when local ethnic Serbs boycotted elections in northern Kosovo, followed by protests against the election of ethnic Albanian mayors.

Albanians are by far the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, followed by Serbs, with about half living in the country's north.

The last week has seen a “large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo," according to the US National Security Council, whose spokesman called the deployment “a very destabilizing development.”

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and gained recognition from many countries, including Türkiye. But Belgrade has never recognized Kosovo and claims that its territory is still part of Serbia.