The President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, unexpectedly and swiftly visited the Gazivode Lake and Brnjak crossing in north of Kosovo yesterday. Escorted by an entourage of around 20 police and civilian vehicles, armed security officers, and accompanied by his Intelligence Agency and Kosovo Police heads, he addressed the public from almost the same spot at the dam where his Serbian counterpart recently spoke as well. The cameras filmed him on a police boat cruise over the Gazivode Lake, one of the most strategic points both for Serbia and Kosovo. While posing with his team on the boat, the Pristina based Gazeta Express compared him to the Russian President Vladimir Putin who takes his camera crew with him on his diverse sport activities. The visit took place at the same time as a Vetevendosje initiated protest in Pristina. In Belgrade, it stirred a media and political drama ended by another late evening extraordinary public address by the President of Serbia, Mr. Aleksandar Vucic.
The unannounced visit of Kosovan President took everyone by surprise but Serbian officials and a few media crew, including local TV Most and a range of Belgrade tabloids/media – Informer, Kurir, TV Prva and RTS.
Special forces of the Kosovo police „had taken over“ the dam in Gazivode were the first headlines from Belgrade. Serbian public broadcaster RTS reported that the special forces of KP “broke into” the so-called Centre for Ecology and Sport that was recently inaugurated by the President of Serbia, during his visit to Kosovo this month.
Director of Kosovo Office Marko Djuric was the first to report on Thaci’s visit to the Serb public.
Thaci had to be accompanied by „a dozen and a hundred armed terrorists just to pose for cameras and ride on a boat“.
In order to achieve this, „they had to remove everyone from the road, arrest all Serbs who had been there,“ said this Serbian official. He was addressed the cameras on a number of occasions yesterday.
Yesterday’s visit by Thaci to the North is not the first one. Thaci visited the North in 2016 as well, at another, more northern point – Jarinje, in the municipality of Leposavic. However, the current reaction of official Belgrade for an urgent, repeated address by the top media officials, and the deployment of the Serbian army and special units of the Serbian police into the state of „the most combat readiness“ – back at that time was lacking.
Then, several dozen citizens of Zubin Potok municipality blocked the main road leading to the Brnjak crossing to prevent Thaci’s possible visit to this administrative border.
“This is a normal, routine visit. I love visiting different places in Kosovo over the weekend,” it was said on the other side by Thaci via a translator to a journalist with Serbia based TV Prva. He emphasized how important an energy resource the lake is, explaining it to a handful of present media.
Prior to these words, while also swiftly visiting the Brnjak crossing, Thaci commemorated the multi-ethnicity and cooperation of the customs officers and the border police which was then followed by a small boat cruise over the lake that was transported in a trailer with the rest of his entourage.
Thaci’s entourage left Zubin Potok around 14.20. It was only after a stormy passing of the motorcade through the small town of Zubin Potok that these Serbian highlanders understood who was visiting them.
Stevan Vulovic, the Kosovan Mayor of Zubin Potok, said that if Thaci visits the North for one more time he “will be able to come, but he will not leave”.
“The peace was kept but the escalation and violence were right at hand. Luckily, there were no incidents, because, had there been any, it would have been a bloodbath,” Vulovic called Thaci a “rapscallion”, “war criminal” and “stinky person”.
Vulovic also stated that he had „difficulties trying to prevent people from reacting against“, while „the situation was on the edge of explosion“, but this was not the perception of many of the residents we spoke to.
The majority said that the situation was calm, and many did not even know anything extraordinary was happening.
A couple of hours later (around 17.00) it was announced that the „citizens of Zubin Potok have erected road barricades“.
Two barricades were improved at the entrance of Zubin Potok and in the village Stuoce near Brnjak. Both barricades were made of construction vehicles and trucks and they were placed on the road. They are removed today after last night’s „plea“ by Mr. Vucic.
Eyewitnesses also reported seeing motorcades of vehicles with Serbian license plates arriving from North Mitrovica to Zubin Potok in late afternoon yesterday to attend protests. All Serb Mayors and Presidents’ of interim councils from the north were present at the protest in Zubin Potok, the media reported.
The event was followed by an avalanche of reactions.
Goran Rakic, the president of Srpska lista and the Mayor of North Mitrovica stated that the presence of armed special units in Gazivode is an “attack on peace and security that will have insurmountable effects on their lives”. He called on Serbia to protect Kosovo Serbs.
Dalibor Jevtic, the Deputy Prime Minister and a Minister in the Kosovo government reminded everyone that “there have long been whispers about taking over Gazivode and incidents.“
„I guess someone is trying to create tensions in this way, and complicate things in order to achieve their own goals,” added this Serb from Strpce.
Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy, Aleksandar Antic said that thankfully, a “statement-like self-composure and sense of responsibility of President Vucic, the adventure of Pristina authorities has failed.”
Minister of Defense, Aleksandar Vulin said that the Serbian Army, in accordance with the orders of the Commander-in-Chief has been put in the state combat readiness.
Plenty of contradicting information followed the events on Saturday. Marko Djuric first announced that the employees within the Centre for Ecology and Sport were restrained and arrested, while KFOR denied during the day that the special forces of Kosovo police (ROSU) were at the lake or that there had been any arrests.
At yet another of his long and dramatic media conferences at 21.00h, the Serbian President called on Kosovo Serbs to leave barricades and „go back to their homes“. He also stated that regardless of how difficult it is to talk and negotiate with “those provocateurs”, he will have to find a mode to continue negotiations for the benefit of Serbian citizens. He described Kosovo special forces as „bandits“, severely criticising KFOR and other international stakeholders for „brutal lies“, while to the EU – Mrs. Mogherini, Einhorst and Kocijancic, he asked several times a question „From which we should restrain?“ Also, he accused the EU of being hypocritical. Finally, he stated that incidents such as these show the necessity of strengthening the army and repeated that as long as he is the President, there will be no new ethnic cleansing campaigns of Serbs, such as “Operation Storm”.
More on Vucic’s speech to follow soon.
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