The current security situation in Kosovo can be assessed as unstable, and if we bear in mind the frequent attacks on returnees, we can say that the situation is quite complex, complicated compared to last year, said Kosovo Deputy Interior Minister Milan Radojević in a show “Otvoreno o”, at the TV Most.
Commenting the report of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which reported 69 recorded incidents throughout Kosovo in the last three months where minorities have been targeted, Radojević points out that the Kosovo Police Service and the Interior Ministry have the data on the number of criminal offenses, not the incidents themselves. So the statistics of KPS have appeared much smaller than the one presented by the Secretary General of the UN, but it is certain that the number of inter-ethnic incidents has increased.
“The biggest problem is that the Government of Kosovo is not sending a clear message that returnees have the right to return to their homes. These incidents often just pass through the comments made by the President or Prime Minister, the message has not been sent out, which would convict the perpetrators of these crimes, and the attacks on returnees. If the president or prime minister would have sent a strong and clear message, through the mayor of these municipalities where these incidents occur, everything would be different,” said Radojević.
He says that a small number of solved cases of attacks on returnees is not only the responsibility of the KPS, but and the Prosecutor’s Office also.
“It’s not an easy job for KPS, because all the incidents occur in predominantly Albanian areas, and the local population is not very cooperative with the KPS; when the attacks on returnees are concerned, the police do not come to the information, because in most cases they receive negative response to their questions,” he said.
Milan Radojević says that Serbs and non-Albanians in central Kosovo are better protected in relation to a period of 5 or 10 years, but he points out that there is always room for improvement and that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and KPS, but also all those who are in the government Kosovo, are working to improve security.
