Former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Ardian Gola, addressed a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe today during discussions on the report concerning Serbia.
Gola commended the authors of the report, stating that addressing the concerns highlighted in the document would help Serbia advance its democratization process. However, he expressed disagreement with the way the Banjska attack was described in the report, arguing that referring to it merely as a “clash” fails to accurately reflect its nature.
“Beyond the insufficient attention the report gives to long-standing violations of minority rights, particularly those affecting the Albanian community in Serbia, I would like to focus on the infamous Banjska attack. I believe the language used in the report does not adequately reflect the nature of this attack, describing it simply as a clash between the police and armed Serb individuals,” Gola said.
The Kosovar politician pointed to examples of how both the European Parliament and former EU High Representative Josep Borrell referred to the Banjska terrorist attack.
“In its resolution on Banjska, the European Parliament described the incident as follows: ‘A heavily armed Serbian paramilitary group carried out a terrorist attack in northern Kosovo.’ Likewise, the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, condemned it as a ‘horrific and cowardly terrorist attack against Kosovo Police officers,’” Gola stated.
Gola also referred to the connections between Milan Radoičić and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
“This attack, ladies and gentlemen, reveals several uncomfortable truths about democracy and the rule of law in Serbia. First, Serbia has yet to demonstrate a genuine willingness to build normal relations, particularly with Kosovo. Second, instead of ensuring accountability, it continues to protect those responsible, as evidenced by the fact that Radoičić remains free and protected in Serbia.
In doing so, Serbia has become a violator of the very values that the Council of Europe was founded to protect and promote. Therefore, if our goal is to help Serbia democratize, we must not soften or conceal uncomfortable facts through neutralizing language.
The true test of a state is not how it embraces comfortable truths, but how it confronts uncomfortable ones. And Banjska is one such truth that Serbia will, sooner or later, have to face,” Gola concluded.
