Serb arrested in north of Kosovo

Kosovo police said they arrested a member of the Serbian community in the north of the country on suspicion of being involved in an assault on police and for damaging properties in this area, but this has provoked the anger of Serbs in Kosovo and Belgrade.

Police said the arrested man, 36 years of age, is suspected of his involvement in a gun attack against Kosovo police and the wounding of two officers. Meanwhile, the man is also suspected of burning several cars in Zubin Potok region, which had Kosovar license plates on them. In the past three days, at least eight cars with Kosovar license plates on them, owned by members of the Serb community, have been burned in the north of the country.

Interior minister of Kosovo, Xhelal Svecla wrote on social media that “the burning of the vehicles owned by our citizens in the north orchestrated by Belgrade with the aim of spreading fear is without a doubt a serious criminal act”.

The Serbian List, the main Serbian political party in Kosovo, which has the support of authorities in Belgrade, considered the arrest “the continuation of the ill-treatment of the Serbian people” and warned further actions if the arrested is not released.

“Just to be clear, this will not act as a warning; this will be a general uprising to stop Albin Kurti from oppressing innocent people,” a statement released by this political party reads.

This is the first arrest made in relation to the burning of vehicles, which, last year, were quite numerous following tensions in the north of Kosovo regarding the use of car plates.