Police conflict in Kosovo puts Serbia on alert | Chronic

The Kosovo government on Tuesday launched a police operation against organized crime in the north of the territory, which ended with 19 policemen – 11 Kosovo Serbs, 4 Kosovo Albanians and 4 Bosnians from Bosnia – as well as two police officers. members of the UN mission arrested and unleashed. The Serbian authorities, who have put their security forces on alert.

The searches, result of an investigation of more than one year on the crimes of organized crime, abuse of power, smuggling of goods and corruption, were concentrated in the city of Zubin Potok in northern Kosovo, where, after the secession of Serbia, the majority of the Kosovo Serb community is concentrated.

"Strengthening the rule of law is a necessity for our country and our region.C organized crime and smuggling are a direct threat to mutual progress and should not be supported for ethnic or cultural reasons. any other consideration "said the Kosovar Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinajby announcing and publicly defending the police operation.

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According to Kosovo police, the arrival of security forces in Zubin Potok has not been well received. There were barricades and armed resistance and one of the officers was slightly injured during the raid.

Haradinaj did not ignore the bilateral tension created by this show of force in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, and he asked the people via his Twitter account that "Stay calm."

In 2008, Kosovo declared unilaterally the independence of Serbia, the heir state of the former Yugoslavia. While several European countries and the United States have immediately recognized the young country, most of the international community – including Argentina – has not yet done so and accepts Belgrade's claim regarding territorial integrity.

In the midst of this constant tension with the Serbian state, the president of this country, Aleksandar Vucicit did not take this Tuesday to react to the wave of arrests of Kosovo Serbs.

"The Army will protect our people if there is a serious threat to the order and life of our people"warned the president, although he added that Serbia would do everything possible to preserve the peace.

"The feeling of invasion in the north (of Kosovo) was to intimidate our people", Vucic added.

On the other hand, the UN mission asked the Kosovar authorities to release their two workers, which happened quickly with the Russian citizen.

Russia, a loyal ally of Serbia and one of the biggest international critics of Kosovo's independence, has also condemned the arrests. "It is an embarrbading political course act, based on provocations by the Albanian and Kosovar authorities", denounced the Russian Foreign Ministry, in a statement.

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Since Kosovo declared independence and many Western powers have supported it, the new authorities are in open conflict with Serbia.

Under the auspices of the European Union, they began a peace dialogue, but it was suspended last November when Kosovo imposed 100% tariffs on imports from neighboring Serbia. .