A post on the social network Facebook reminded me that today is a significant day. The “memories” section took me back to 2011. I was only 20 years old and had just started my first steps in journalism.
I was learning to do journalism in a very important medium in the country, and this would serve me well for the future.
On July 26, 2011, I had written a sentence in my status that became the “refrain” of those days, following the name of the hero Enver Zymeri!
“Sovereignty is extended over the entire territory of Kosovo.” I had heard this sentence with my own ears at a conference held late that day by the former Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi. A feeling of pride, joy, but also pain that for a moment made me forget my duty as a journalist.
Enver Zymeri became the newest hero of a free Kosovo. The Kosovo Police had embarked on an operation to take control of the Jarinje and Brnjak border points. There, they encountered barricades and resistance from Serbian hooligan groups, who killed police officer Enver Zymeri.
According to reports, he was killed by shots fired from the mountains between the villages of Varage and Zupč, after the ROSU convoy was stopped by a barricade created with vehicles by a group of Serbs.
Now that 13 years have passed since that event, sovereignty remains “un-extended.”
The north continues to have a vulnerable security situation, although the Kosovo Police are doing the impossible to keep the situation under control along with KFOR members.
Since 2011, many events have occurred that have kept the situation in the north tense.
On September 24, 2023, Kosovo gained another hero. Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed in a confrontation with a group of Serbian criminals who had blocked the entrance to the village of Banjskë.
Around 3 a.m., the Kosovo Police received information about gunshots on the main road passing through the village of Banjskë in Zvečan.
Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed as a result of an explosion that occurred on the village bridge.
The attack on the Kosovo Police was condemned and rightly characterized as a terrorist attack.
The incidents would not cease in the following hours.
There were continuous gunshots heard within the village until it was discovered that the Serbian criminals led by criminal Milan Radoičić were settled inside the monastery.
For over 10 hours, the Kosovo Police responded to the attacks of the terrorist group that had entered Banjskë and from there were planning the entire attack.
The operation ended with the Serbian terrorists fleeing through mountainous roads towards Serbia.
For this case, there is still no charge raised while the finger is pointed at the state of Serbia as responsible. Furthermore, they are also sheltering and protecting the criminal Radoičić.
This terrorist attack also proved that the north does not find peace. This case further deepened the “gap” between Kosovo and Serbia in the dialogue mediated by the European Union.
Serbia continues with its threatening discourse, while its “dream” for Kosovo is at the center of its daily politics.
The internationals “watch” and due to global politics, seem to be afraid of Serbia.
They do not find the courage to give Kosovo the green light for the opening of the bridge over the Ibar River, although it was attempted to be turned into a “peace park”! Ironic!
One thing is certain, peace without freedom of movement does not exist, but Kosovo has enough heroes who are ready to realize the sentence “Sovereignty is extended over the entire territory of Kosovo” and this will happen one day!
