Serbia's government office for Kosovo and the Belgrade-friendly Serbian List party assessed today's visit of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to northern Kosovo as an "attempt to provoke tension" and a provocation towards the Serbs, who are the majority of the population in this area, the Belgrade news agency Beta reported. In separate declarations, they assessed that Kurti, during his stay in the municipalities of Leposavich and Zubin Potok, showed that he was "not interested in normalization and de-escalation" and that his arrival caused a "riot” among the Serbs, writes BTA.
The KoSSev portal previously reported that Kurti stayed in the Leposavich municipality for about half an hour, along with at least two ministers from his government, and that the reason for his arrival was unknown. Kurti's visit to North Kosovo, in addition to personal security, was secured by the Kosovo Police Directorate North, KoSSev confirmed. The director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian government, Petar Petkovic, said that just a day before the continuation of the dialogue in Brussels, Kurti "decided to incite new tensions in the north".
"The fact that all of Leposavich was blocked when he went to the municipality building is the best proof of what kind of show of force we are talking about,” Petkovic said. In his words, "the question opens up as to who and in what way approved Kurti's visit to the north, which of the international representatives was informed, whether KeyFOR and EULEX cooperated and gave consent," Petkovic pointed out.
Serbska Lista said that "the parade of Kurti with dozens of vehicles and a hundred special forces armed to the teeth in the north has disturbed the Serbs" and called this visit "theatrical performance". This political organization of the Serbs in Kosovo, which enjoys the support of Belgrade, estimated that Kurti's visit was "aimed at destabilizing the situation on the ground and causing tension". "It is more than clear that with his arrival he wanted to provoke the reaction of the Serbian people and present himself as a victim in order to win more political dividends or votes for the upcoming elections,”, the message said.