An overplayed crisis?
In fact, the tone used by Albin Kurti’s government did nothing to reassure. At 3:30 a.m., the press release from the National Security Council, convened urgently, assured that “Early indications suggest that this attack was orchestrated by the Serbian state apparatus, which has the capacity to carry out such criminal and terrorist attacks. “The statement even extended the accusations to Russia:”There is also a likely connection to Russia’s aggressive attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities during this week, which left more than a million Ukrainian homes without power just before winter.”
“This attack was coordinated by terrorist organizations with the aim of causing maximum damage to the State of Kosovo and its citizens“, assured Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla, while the police arrested eight suspects during the day on Saturday, whose identity has still not been confirmed. The Pristina authorities particularly point to the potential role of Milan Radoicic , a Serbian businessman from northern Kosovo, already on the run in Serbia after being involved in the still mysterious appearance of an armed commando in the Orthodox monastery of Banjska on September 24 2023. Prime Minister Albin Kurti took advantage of the canal explosion to call on the international community to “intensifier” his pressure on Serbia to hand over Radoicic to them.
Milan Radoicic, mafia figure and sulphurous “businessman” placed on the “black list” of the United States
However, KFOR, the NATO mission in Kosovo, requested by Pristina, refused to strengthen its presence in the north of the country, believing that the security situation did not justify it. Similarly, speaking on Monday morning, the US Ambassador to Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, called on Kosovar authorities to investigate “credible“, while asserting that it was still impossible to know who was responsible for the attack. In short, didn’t Pristina overplay the crisis?
Divert attention?
For its part, Belgrade rejects all accusations. President Vucic condemned the act “terrorist” committed Thursday, ensuring that Serbia was conducting its own investigation because it is “of his interest” to shed light. The director of the Serbian Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, even called Pristina’s accusations “fake news”.
This is not the first time that Pristina has tried to import the Ukrainian scheme, by presenting Serbia as a relay for Moscow, committed to leading a “hybrid warfare“against Kosovo. In this case, the hypothesis of direct involvement of the Belgrade authorities would arise from a desire to create a “diversion” within Serbian public opinion, while the demonstrations against corruption do not weaken, a month after the tragic disaster at the Novi Sad station, where the fall of a recently restored awning, on November 1, caused the death of fourteen people.
Serbia: thousands of demonstrators in Novi Sad after the collapse of a station awning
Pristina also mentions a rise in tensions in northern Kosovo, while dialogue with Belgrade has been at a standstill for months. In truth, each side is holding its breath. Albin Kurti seems almost assured of winning the legislative elections scheduled for February 8, but no one knows what the line of the new American administration will be: during his first term, Donald Trump supported the hypothesis of a “rectification” borders and exchanges of territories between Kosovo and Serbia. Another unknown, the entry into office of the new head of European diplomacy, the Estonian Kaja Kallas, reputed to know little about the Balkans but to be very sensitive to any reference to Russia…
