Petar Petković, director of the so-called “Office for Kosovo,” reacted sharply to statements made by Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti regarding the November 29, 2024 attack on the Ibar–Lepenc water canal. In his post, Petković sought to frame Serbia’s actions as merely a local political matter within Kosovo and accused Kurti of “attacking Belgrade for electoral reasons.”
Petković claimed that Kurti is “nervous about the upcoming December 28 elections” and suggested that the prime minister “has nothing to offer his voters except attacks against the Serbian people.”
Security analysts and experts have criticized Petković’s narrative, arguing that it is a deliberate attempt to obscure Belgrade’s responsibility for attacks on critical Kosovo infrastructure. The Ibar–Lepenc attack, carried out with military-grade explosives, disrupted drinking water supply to tens of thousands of citizens and created insecurity in northern municipalities, particularly those with a Serb majority.
Kosovo’s Special Prosecution has indicted three Serbian nationals, two of whom are linked to Serbia’s illegal security structures, underscoring that the attack was not an isolated incident. International forensic analysis confirmed the use of military explosives, directly linking the operation to state-level structures in Serbia.
Beyond denial, Petković’s rhetoric appears aimed at manipulating Serbian public opinion and protecting Aleksandar Vučić’s regime by portraying Kosovo as the “aggressor” while minimizing Serbia’s direct interference. Experts warn that such narratives threaten regional stability and risk normalizing acts of destabilization in the future.
Serbia’s actions, which clearly sought to externalize its domestic crisis by targeting Kosovo, demand urgent international attention. Treating these attacks as isolated incidents would be a strategic mistake, potentially encouraging similar operations and undermining security across the region.
