Three ethnic Serb members of the Kosovo Police tendered their resignations shortly after being recruited, the head of EULEX announced on Thursday. Several ambassadors in Kosovo and representatives of international institutions reacted immediately, expressing concern. The Kosovo Police, however, did not react, while the first reactions of the top Pristina officials arrived last night. The president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, accused Serbia of intimidation, while her Chief of Staff, Blerim Vela, said that Belgrade must be sanctioned because of this.
“Looking with concern at the recent resignations of 3 newly recruited Kosovo Serbs members of the Kosovo Police. EULEX is closely following these worrisome developments,“ EULEX mission chief Giovanni Pietro Barbano said yesterday, without providing any other details.
To our inquiry for more information, EULEX told us last night what the head of this mission previously said in a Twitter post.
„Looking with concern at the recent resignations of 3 newly recruited Kosovo Serbs members of the Kosovo Police. EULEX is closely following these worrisome developments,“ they stated.
They referred us to the Kosovo Police, which we actually contacted earlier in the day. However, no response had arrived by the time this news was published.
In the meantime, a number of international officials reacted to the news.
One of the first to react was the US ambassador in Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, stating that he shares the concern about the resignations. “Kosovo Police exists to serve all communities in Kosovo and its officers should be able to work free from intimidation. Closely watching these developments,” he tweeted.
The German ambassador in Pristina, Jorn Rohde, underlined that a multi-ethnic country requires a multi-ethnic police.
“All Kosovo Police members – no matter which ethnic group they belong to – need to be able to perform their duties free from intimidation,” he underscored.
The head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, Michael Davenport, also reacted, also expressing concern.
He added that the organization he represents, along with EULEX, worked together to support Kosovo Police recruiting cadets from all non-majority communities.
“Our support for a professional, multi-ethnic police force in Kosovo will continue.”
The head of the EU Office in Pristina, Tomáš Szunyog, shared the post of the head of EULEX, Giovanni Pietro Barbano on his Twitter account.
On the other hand, unlike these international officials, Pristina and Belgrade officials did not immediately react, and neither did the Kosovo Police.
On the other hand, Pristina media extensively reported about the resignations of the Kosovo Serbs policemen, saying that allegedly seven members of the Kosovo Police have left this institution, that is, three officially, while four more are in the process of resigning.
The president of Kosovo reacted last night, without revealing how many people resigned, but accusing Serbia of intimidation.
“The resignation of police officers of the Serb community is a direct result of ongoing threats and intimidation from Serbia –an evidence that its policies continue to mirror Milosevic tactics.”
She added that Pristina institutions will continue to ensure inclusivity across all institutions and a “safer Kosovo for all.”
The Kosovo President’s Chief of Staff, Blerim Vela, then reiterated Osmani’s accusations.
“As a result of Serbia’s security institutions pressure, several newly recruited Serb police officers quit Kosovo Police,” Vela said, also not sharing the number of KP employees who resigned.
He noted that Serbia isn’t concerned about rights of Serbs.
“It rather aims to sustain an iron-fisted control over them and block their integration in Kosovo institutions.”
Serbia must be sanctioned for this, he added.
Vela also accused Serbia of “distributing propaganda documents” to other countries, “falsely claiming an increase in ethnically motivated attacks in Kosovo.”
According to him, one should closely observe Serbia’s actions rather than its words.
The police station in the north gained 74 new police officers last month, all of them from non-Albanian communities. More than half (45) are ethnic Serbs, 16 are Bosniaks, 3 are Turks and 8 are members of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.
The officers are part of a group of 418 Kosovo Police cadets who recently completed their training. At a ceremony marking the end of the six-month police training course, which was held in mid July in Pristina, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti emphasized that this service is “the most reliable institution in Kosovo, a continuation of the Kosovo Liberation Army.“
The Serbs from the north of Kosovo left most of Kosovo’s institutions in November, including more than 500 police officers.
Since Serbs left the police force, their jobs have been taken by Albanian policemen from other regions throughout Kosovo. The work of the regular police, however, has been overshadowed for months by the presence and deployment of special police units in the North, with at least four bases and several checkpoints.
The commander of the North Mitrovica police station, Ramiz Isufi, recently confirmed that there were three policemen from the Serb community in this station, even before they were joined by new policemen from non-Albanian communities.
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