When French President Emmanuel Macron recently, during the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Paris, mentioned that “it is important that the participants of the attack in Banjska come to justice”, it was clear that Milan Radoicic, the self-proclaimed defender of the Serbs of Kosovo, became a new burden for Vučić with his back bent anyway.
The man who was given “power of attorney” by Belgrade to decide on life or death in the north of Kosovo and whom Oliver Ivanovic labeled as a criminal from whom he is in danger became, not only Vučić’s, but also everyone’s . At least up to the full price with interest, in some new “exchange arrangement”, unknown to the public, the citizens of Serbia finally pay.
Analysts in Serbia testify that after Banjska everything has changed, that everything will remain the same and that the previous debt has been resolved by making a new one to the same creditor.
According to them, the process against Radoicic remains in a distant, hazy perspective and will develop as “quickly and efficiently” as the one against Sharic, the Belivuk clan, Jovanjica, the trial for the murder of Oliver Ivanovic…
“If they didn’t know what Radoicic was doing, why aren’t they following him now?
“Before Banjska, Milan Radoicic was close to the top of the government in Belgrade, and after that event, after which, according to my information, about 20,000 people left Kosovo, we have only silence,” said Momir Stojanovic, general and president in pension of the National Assembly of Serbia.
To the alleged doubts whether Belgrade knew about Radoicic’s plans in Banjska, Stojanovic answers with a counter question: “If they didn’t know what Radoicic was doing, why aren’t they following him now, considering the damage caused? “Of course, because I can’t. Radoicic is a member of a narrow circle at the core of power, against which Vucic cannot and should not direct any sanctions, even if all of Serbia fails. He is on the same level as Sinisha Mali and Nikolla Petrović and as such untouchable”.
Stojanović emphasizes that this is always the case when following the trail of controversial money that “turns around” around the current government.
“I claim that the budget of the SNS, which is filled in a very suspicious way, is bigger than the budget of Serbia, but no one in this country can investigate this fact. This has been the case since the first days of the party’s existence and the money that Stanko Subotic gave them, and it continues to this day. With that money from the secret budget of the SNS, everything is bought in this country – first of all, the silence of those who can threaten their system in any way”, Stojanović emphasizes.
Radar’s interlocutor reveals that the president is being blackmailed by local criminals. The result of such circumstances is a psychological-propaganda war against its own people, led by the government itself.
Although Radoicic’s property is being seized in Kosovo, where he is banned from entering and has not been seen there since September of last year, and his ability to act has been restricted, cars are still being burned in the northern municipalities. In his shameless way, Vladimir Djukanovic from SNS has recently repeated his assessment in a TV appearance that only Radoicic can organize the resistance of the Kosovo Serbs.
During this time, disobedient Serbs are arrested at the administrative crossings or, by order of the Serbian list, their every step is monitored. And this is not hidden from them.
“I know some of those boys who follow me every day and I tried to address them as a parent, because I can be a father to some of them,” said Radoica Radomirovic, from Leposaviqi, deputy minister for returns and communities in the Government of Kosovo .
He underlines that all those boys were “bought” with almost the same standard contracts for 50,000 dinars for the work of fixing the bed of the river Ibër. Meanwhile, our interlocutor claims that so far only in the municipality of Leposaviq, about four million euros have been spent during the last years and no one has seen any excavator working in that field.
“I’m trying to tell those boys what happened to those who followed Radoicic to Banjska and who are now out of Kosovo and in big trouble.” I hope they will not receive the sentences they are threatening now (the minimum sentence threatened for terrorism is 15 years in prison), says Radomirovic.
Although disobedience to the Serbian List is threatened with arson, arrest or loss of job, Radomirovic emphasizes that its influence has largely declined:
“People do not want their lives to be led by Milan Radoicic and Lista Srpska, and this can be seen from the reluctance of those mentioned to agree to a referendum on the dismissal of the mayor of the municipality. They do not want a referendum because they know that no one will respond to the call and threats of the Serbian List. The citizens realized that their motive was only robbery. According to research conducted since 2012, nearly 900 million euros of Serbian taxpayers have been embezzled through a dozen companies that were established for this purpose and are all under Radoicic’s control. In the north of Kosovo, Radoicic acted as the owner of the people and negotiated with the Kosovo government in this way: “You want a population census, that’s good, here are my conditions.” or for any contact with him. He still wants that position, but that time has now passed,” says Radomirovic.
He points out that there is a lot of talk about how there are now many special forces in the north, but an important fact is silent in this sense:
“If they were to withdraw, those gangs that roam here and beat and harass our citizens would come back again just because they think differently. No one will allow this anymore. You have seen them in Banjska. We saw them with those uniforms in December 2022, as far as I know, they are some older gendarmerie uniforms”, says Radomirović.
The most dangerous would be the continuation of Banjska
Asked if Radoicic will be prosecuted for the events in Banjska, Radar’s interlocutor answers negatively:
I think that Vucic will certainly not hand it over. Even Milosevic, at one time, would not have remained in power if he had extradited Karadzic or Mladic to The Hague. It’s simple, they are part of the government. Only after the regime change will the gangs we are talking about be prosecuted. People of the Northern Brigade received donations of 50 million dinars for projects for which there is no trace. All that money is returned to Radoicic. If you receive a donation of 20,000 euros, 15,000 must be returned and the other five can be spent as you wish. But of course the project is not mentioned”, says Radomirović.
Dushan Janjic from the Forum for Ethnic Relations, speaking about the consequences of Banjska, emphasizes the fact that ultimately this has resulted in Serbia’s indirect approach to the Western powers, through the purchase of military equipment. He also believes that Macron’s insistence on prosecuting Radoicic cannot be ignored.
“I hope that it will not be necessary to have Banjska 2, which is already being talked about in Kosovo, but also in the Western media. There are much better ways to do it. According to my information, Vučić has been given a deadline to start the case regarding Banjsko by May at the latest. I am inclined to believe that this will be the case, but we can guess how long the court process will take… Radoicic himself has some way to go. The worst thing is that he is what he is now, a kind of outlaw. However, one should not neglect his personal contacts and negotiation skills, which he has acquired over the years”, concludes Janjiq.
It remains to be seen how things will continue, but it is clear that Banjska and Milan Radoicic, just like the case of the Bytyqi brothers, will follow Serbia like a long shadow for a long time.
