An inter-ethnic incident on the Mitrovica promenade overshadowed the celebration of the end of high school education of Mitrovica high school students. The situation further escalated when the Kosovo policeman grabbed the Mitrovica graduate by the neck. What reactions have been received so far? What does this incident tell us about the reality of Kosovo Serbs?
Graduates of Mitrovica high school they celebrated the end of the school year on Friday (May 23). Their celebration was interrupted by an inter-ethnic incident on the Mitrovica promenade near a bar owned by Albanians.
"We were passing through the promenade and when we were coming back they (Albanians) were with us." provoked from the bar's garden, we mechanically answered them with signs. I pointed the middle finger at their nationalist signs", the young man who, as can be seen in the available recordings, begins his testimony for the media. Kosovar the policeman is holding his neck, reports the portal Alternative.
He emphasizes that he had no physical contact with the police officers.
"He grabbed me by the neck and started telling me that we are provocateurs, that we should stop doing that, and after that he let me go, he didn't legitimize me, but he took me aside," says this young man.
He adds that it was an unpleasant situation "because I came out as if I was the culprit even though they were the first to provoke us, as if they had set us up".
Marko Milenković from the New Social Initiative for "Vreme" says that almost always when such or similar incidents occur, there are one-sided attitudes from Pristina - "they do not want to accept, to side with the community and to react professionally in such situations".
Exceeding the authority of a police officer?
This incident caused violent reactions from political representatives of the Serbian community in Kosovo, non-governmental organizations operating in the north of Kosovo, as well as the head of EULEX.
Giovani Pietro Barbano, head of the EULEX mission, wrote on the "X" social network: "I am deeply shocked and condemn the excessive use of force shown by a member of the Kosovo Police against a young man in North Mitrovica."
He added that he had expressed his concern to the leadership of the Kosovo Police. "I am confident that those responsible for this unacceptable act will be held accountable under the rule of law."
The deputy commander of the Kosovo Police for the North region, Veton Elšani, told the portal Alternativna that the case was not opened because there were no arrests. "The high school graduate showed three fingers, which was understood as a provocation, and the police reacted to prevent an incident," said Elishani.
When asked if there was a reaction from the police in the case of a man who showed the double-headed eagle symbol with his hands from a cafe, Elšani says that there was not because the police had already stood in front of the crowd of graduates to prevent the incident.
For Elšani, the police grabbing a high school graduate by the neck "is not an excess of jurisdiction".
On the same day, Elšani was declared an honorary citizen of North Mitrovica.
Milenkovic says that international reactions in that context do not fully change the situation on the ground. "It has been shown on several occasions that the government of Aljbin Kurti does not care about these things. The bottom line is that the European Union currently does not have the strength or consensus within the EU itself on how to approach the problem in Kosovo," he points out.
(Dis)trust of the Serbian community towards the Kosovo Police
Acting Minister of the Interior Dželjalj Svečlja said after the incident that the graduates provoked citizens with "nationalist symbols" and "chauvinist slogans 'Kosovo is the heart of Serbia'", which "not only mark the ethnic cleansing and genocide committed by Serbia in Kosovo", but also "manifest the pretensions this country has towards our Republic".
He concluded that the Kosovo police "professionally took the necessary measures".
The police denied the media reports and stated: "During the graduation celebration, several provocations occurred and in order to avoid any escalation, the police reacted. The situation calmed down and the graduates continued the celebration without the need for additional reaction."
Milenkovic states that there has been a problem of distrust of the Serbian community in Kosovo institutions for a long time, and that it is most noticeable in relation to the Kosovo police.
"During the government of Self-Determination, and especially with their last government, the Kosovo police was abused many times for political purposes, and there is a general impression within the Serbian community that those security institutions were misused for a political campaign, as an extension of the nationalist policy that Self-Determination led and where it had the north (Kosovo) as a platform for engaging its electorate, for gathering votes or for a general political campaign," explains Milenković.
He adds that in this sense the police have lost credibility within the Serbian community.
Miodrag Marinković, executive director of the NGO "CASA" told "Vreme" that the only new circumstance in yesterday's incident was that someone had carefully recorded all the details of the case on the phone, "including testimonies about the brutality of the police officer of the Kosovo police, and even the expressions on his face in which anger and hatred can be recognized, almost of a documentary character".
He adds that everything else is similar to what the Serbs in the north of Kosovo have been witnessing and suffering for the last two years - "and that is the systemic violence of the Kosovo police against citizens of Serbian nationality."
Marinković explains that this violence has different manifestation forms. "These are the humiliation of citizens, the use of excessive force, elements of torture in custody, and even the outburst of anger we saw yesterday. The Kosovo police, which replaced Serbian police officers, does not act as a service for citizens, but according to a political mandate," emphasizes our interlocutor.
The reaction of the Serbian List - another announcement
The vice-president of the Serbian List, Ivan Zaporožac, said that they requested an urgent investigation of this event, the determination of responsibility and the sanctioning of the policemen who, as he stated, "abused their powers".
The Serbian lista told the portal Alternativna that they informed all international representatives about the incident by providing them with "appropriate materials".
Marinković reminds "Vreme" that by the political decision of the Serbian List, in coordination with Belgrade, more than two years ago, it was decided that 560 Serbian policemen would leave the Kosovo Police, that more than 100 judicial officers, judges and prosecutors of Serbian nationality would leave the Kosovo institutions, and that four municipalities in the north of Kosovo would be handed over to Albanian mayors and councilors.
"Kurti could not have received a bigger gift than that inexplicable decision, which opened the door to the installation of his mayors and police officers and the complete takeover of institutions, which was a prerequisite for the current violence in the north. That's why those announcements (Serb Liste) have no weight," emphasizes our interlocutor.
He further indicates that the Serbian List is not leading the Serbian people in Kosovo today, and Belgrade is not taking appropriate steps either. "It seems that we are left to our own devices and that the self-organization of citizens through protests and the action of civil society is the only resistance to this illegal rampage by the Kosovo Police," says Marinković.
The MUP of Serbia issued an arrest warrant
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia has issued an arrest warrant for a member of the Kosovo Police who participated in an incident on the promenade in North Mitroivica the day before, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced.
The Ministry of Justice of Serbia demands an urgent and impartial international investigation, as well as the suspension of political and logistical support to the Kosovo Police.
The Minister of Justice of Serbia, Nenad Vujić, states that "the international community, primarily the EU, KFOR, EULEX and UNMIK, bears responsibility for the security and political atmosphere in Kosovo", and that "their passivity, double standards and selective justice render meaningless every principle invoked by Europe and international missions".
What is the solution?
Marinković emphasizes that yesterday's hatred on the face of the police officer reflects deep social and ethnic intolerance fueled by the political crisis, violence and orchestrated media manipulations from Pristina and Belgrade. "That's the crux of the problem."
"The only sustainable solution is the return of Serbs to the Kosovo police, judiciary and municipal structures, while at the same time establishing an autonomous form of self-government for the Serbian community in Kosovo. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to revive the negotiation process between Pristina and Belgrade and ensure that the international community exerts strong enough pressure on both sides to agree to a compromise. Judging by the current state and the lack of effective engagement of the international community, we are far from that solution," concludes Miodrag Marinković.
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