Berlin and Brussels: Serbia to investigate the attack in Kosovo

2023-10-06 20:15:13, Kosova & Bota CNA

Berlin and Brussels: Serbia to investigate the attack in Kosovo

Tirana: Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Berlin Process countries

The focus of the meeting was mainly the creation of a conciliatory atmosphere in the region and the improvement of the economic performance of the Western Balkans, the European perspective, as well as the resolution of disputes.

The attack in the north of Kosovo by a Serbian armed group on September 24, became the subject of discussions at the summit, from which a full investigation and clarification of this event was requested, as well as a reduction in the talks between Pristina and Belgrade.

Baerbock: Insidious attack by a terrorist gang

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock requested an investigation from Serbia for the attack that took place in the north of Kosovo on September 24, where the Kosovar police officer Afrim Bunjaku was killed. At the press conference after the summit of Foreign Ministers of the Berlin Process in Tirana, Baerbock said that the provocations of the Serbian side through the increased presence of troops on the border with Kosovo have made the situation even more tense: "This happens after an insidious attack against the Kosovar police by a terrorist gang armed to the teeth. We expect Serbia to advance the investigation into the attack on September 24 and the May incident against KFOR soldiers," said the German diplomat. Baerbock further added that NATO has increased its presence of KFOR thus increasing vigilance, however according to her,

German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock

The EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, expressed himself in the same line, who demanded from Tirana that Serbia and Kosovo return to dialogue, while the perpetrators of the attack be brought to justice.

"The dialogue should be restored and results should be given in this work by implementing the previous agreements, including the one in Ohrid. The perpetrators should be brought to justice, the Serbian authorities should cooperate with the EU on this matter," said Varhelyi.

In the role of host of the Ministerial and as co-leader of the press conference, the Foreign Minister of Albania, Igli Hasani, reiterated the same attitude towards the attack in Kosovo: "Serbia should start a serious investigation, for the criminal terrorist group involved in the armed attack in the north of Kosovo, as well as the connections of this group with arms traffickers and other individuals or entities in Serbia." - said Hasani.

Dacic "boycotts" the family photo

Before the start of the closed-door meeting, the foreign ministers took an official photo, a tradition in such events. However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, was absent, who, although he attended the meeting, did not line up alongside his counterparts. This distancing came after the head of German diplomacy, Analena Baerbock, requested that the photo be taken in front of the flags of the countries participating in the ministerial, among which was the one of Kosovo.

Asked during the press conference, the German minister refused to comment, as did Minister Hasani. "I would not like to talk about the attitudes of my colleagues, but only about what I did. I respect the format protocol of the Berlin Process, so I invited everyone present to join me to take the family photo next to our respective flags" , Hasani said.

Hope for the integration of the countries of the Western Balkans

"Such meetings seem a bit technical, but in short they are for the future of this region and the future of the new generation, which sees peace and security guaranteed within the EU" - said the German Foreign Minister , Annalena Baerbock, for the first meeting of the "Berlin Process" that takes place for the first time in the Western Balkans. "We need to speed up the pace of EU membership. What happened in Kiev made it clearer to us that the region's membership in the EU is necessary from a geopolitical point of view", he added.

Baerbock. The Commissioner for Enlargement also said that the Western Balkans is a key priority. "We have brought the economic investment plan, we have mobilized one third of the PPB in the entire region. This plan will also aim to accelerate economic integration, creating opportunities for

the Western Balkans to be integrated into the EU market without becoming a member" - said the ministerial commissioner for expansion of the "Berlin Process".

The Berlin Process is a diplomatic initiative, initiated by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in August 2014 to give new impulses and accelerate the pace of BP's entry into the EU.

Russia's war in Ukraine has turned accelerating the pace of the Western Balkans integration process into a geostrategic priority of the EU./ DW