Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, called on the international community to pressure Serbia to hand over Milan Radoiçiq to Kosovo authorities, stating that the Serbian politician and businessman is the “fundamental reason” for the attacks that have occurred and may occur in the future in Kosovo.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday in Pristina, following an attack on the Ibër-Lepenc canal in northern Kosovo two days earlier, Kurti said, “The main issue, in my opinion, is the fact that Milan Radoiçiq has not been handed over by Serbian authorities to those of Kosovo.”
Kosovo authorities have issued an arrest warrant and raised charges against Radoiçiq, the former vice president of the Serbian List, who took responsibility for a deadly attack on the Kosovo Police in Banjska in September 2023.
Kurti stated that, if Radoiçiq had not been left free in Serbia, “the chances would drastically drop that all these attacks that have happened, and future attacks that they plan, would have been carried out.”
“We ask the international community to pressure Belgrade to hand over the main criminal, Radoiçiq, to the institutions of Kosovo. If Serbia doubts that Radoiçiq would not receive a fair trial in Kosovo, we have EULEX, which monitors all cases in Kosovo. Therefore, he must be handed over to Kosovo,” he said.
The attack on the Ibër-Lepenc canal was the third in the last 72 hours in the north of the country, which has a majority Serb population, following explosions that occurred at a police station and a municipal building in Zveçan.
The explosion on the canal in the village of Varagë in Zubin Potok did not cause any casualties but created a large crack in its side wall, causing water to flow out of the canal, resulting in some areas facing water supply reductions.
Kosovo blamed Serbia for this attack, a claim which Serbia denied.
Regular water supply was restored almost a day after the explosion, Kosovo authorities announced on Sunday, while the supply to the Kosovo Energy Corporation’s cooling system for its thermal power plants was not affected.
Kosovo security authorities arrested eight suspects and confiscated weapons during a large operation in northern Kosovo on Saturday, related to this attack, which they said was the most severe against the country’s critical infrastructure since the post-war period.
Kurti said that Friday’s attack on the water canal in the north is linked to the attacks that Russia has been carrying out in recent months against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“The goal was for a large part of the country to remain without water, in darkness, in the cold, and without communication. This attack seems to be linked to the massive attacks of the Russian Federation against Ukraine,” said Kurti.
During the conference, he showed a photo which he said depicted emblems of Russian military units confiscated by Kosovo Police during Saturday’s operation in northern Kosovo.
“Dozens of emblems from Russian military units were found. These emblems belong to special Russian units,” he added.
The attack on the water canal in the north was condemned by the international community.
The European Union and Germany called it a terrorist act.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States would offer support in finding and punishing those responsible for the attack on the Ibër-Lepenc canal.
