O'Brien: We have been promised that Radoicic will face the law in Serbia

2024-06-29 18:31:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

O'Brien: We have been promised that Radoicic will face the law in Serbia

US Assistant Secretary of State, James O'Brien. Photo from the archive.

The US Assistant Secretary of State, James O'Brien, said that Serbia has promised that Millan Radoicic will face the law regarding the September events in Banjska i Zvecani.

Radoicic has taken responsibility for the armed attack by a group of Serbs against the Kosovo Police, which killed a police official. During the exchange of fire on September 24, 2023, three Serbian attackers were also killed.

The American official said during the Dubrovnik forum that he expects Serbia to keep its promise.

"The USA and the EU have consistently said that the crimes committed in September in Banjska should be punished. We expect and I believe we have been promised that Mr. Radoicic will go through a full legal process in Serbia. It is a good thing that it seems that it is not active in the north of Kosovo, as it was earlier, we see that there are positive benefits from this. He has been charged and we expect the process against him to be completed," said O'Brien.

US Assistant Secretary of State, James O'Brien. Photo from the archive.

Serbia accuses Radoicic of purchasing weapons, ammunition and explosive devices of great destructive power from Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from January 2023 to September 24. The authorities have banned him from going to Kosovo.

The authorities in Kosovo assess the attack in Banjska as an act of aggression and have blamed Serbia for having a hand in it. Belgrade has denied involvement.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has decided as one of the conditions for engaging in dialogue with Serbia, the surrender of Radoicic and his group to the judicial authorities of Kosovo. The European Union has said that Serbia is not ready to accept this condition, during the last round of dialogue held on June 26.

"I think we should also be clear that the use of force to reach a solution should be excluded. This includes the most sensitive parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the north of Kosovo, and I think that here the relevant state actors have taken strong positions that they do not support the use of force in these areas. But we have to move away from the discussion about violence, state violence. That would allow us to use the tools we have in a way that we think would be productive," O'Brien said.

During the Dubrovnik forum, where Kosovo was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla, a statement made by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu?i?, was also mentioned, who stated that the leader of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has shown that he is the leader of well, strategic and has "shot when it should", for the way it has managed to take control of the breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh.

But O'Brien said this is a misinterpretation by Vucic, as Aliyev has expressed his intention to take territories that are internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

"We must be clear: No movement in Bosnia, no movement in the north of Kosovo", said O'Brien.

Even in the past, US officials have warned against the use of violence to resolve disagreements in the Western Balkans region. Meanwhile, officials in Kosovo, including the president, Vjosa Osmani, and the prime minister, Albin Kurti, have said several times that Serbia has territorial ambitions against Kosovo./REL