If Kosovo becomes a member of the Interpol, Pristina could arrest anyone, including people from Serbia all over the world, for no reason, writes Vesti portal.
Vesti writes that if Kosovo becomes a member of the Interpol, Serbs originating from Kosovo, but also Serbian politicians from Serbia, for whom Pristina asses that on some grounds are guilty of anything, from war crimes, the violation of the Constitution of Kosovo and the sovereignty of the state Kosovo, terrorism, or organized crime, could easily be found on Interpol’s warrants.
Marko Nicović, a member of the International Police Association and a former chairman of the International Association for the Fight Against Narcotics, based in New York, told Sputnik that the entry of Kosovo into this association would be devastating for Serbia.
Nicović believes that Kosovo’s entry into Interpol would allow them to have knowledge of all the warrants issued against their citizens, which would indicate that they could be warned, as well as about the evidence against them. On the other hand, they can place on the Interpol list anyone, including people from Serbia, said Nicović to Vesti.
– Kosovo with a membership in Interpol gets much more power on the international plan, not to mention that it will be able to access any information coming from any country in the world, including Serbia. Therefore, admission to Interpol is a great benefit for Pristina. To be precise, it will acquire power that is immeasurable – claims Nicović.
As he explained, there is no mechanism within the Interpol that checks the validity of requests for issuing warrants from a country.
This is a rule that will be applied for Kosovo too if it becomes a member.
Kosovo is not currently a member of Interpol, nor of Europol. The warrant issued by Interpol for the citizens of Kosovo is being done through UNMIK.
In 2002, UNMIK signed a memorandum of understanding with Interpol, which regulates the purpose of cooperation, the manner of information exchange and the modalities of cooperation.
UNMIK also has the right to access Interpol telecommunication systems and databases.
In other words, UNMIK, according to the existing memorandum, has the same rights as the Interpol member countries.
This means that it can also demand the publication of warrants of all kinds, including the red ones, which was done last year when warrants were issued for 16 Serbs from Kosovo for alleged war crimes.
Kosovo received information from Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock that their request will be on the agenda of this organization, after an international consultant, who led the study on Kosovo’s accession process to this organization, completed his report and submitted to the Executive Board.
Following the procedure, the Executive Board, on the basis of this report, submits to the Assembly the adoption of framework guidance for the accession process, and after the adoption of these guidelines, a vote on membership is expected. According to information from Pristina, membership and Interpol is already a done deal, writes Vesti portal.
