The Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, has accused Serbia of using the recent high school graduation event in North Mitrovica as a tool for propaganda.
Following the circulation of a video on Friday showing individuals chanting chauvinistic slogans and making the three-finger salute, Sveçla emphasized that this propaganda only resonates with nationalist circles in Serbia.
“This is what Serbian propaganda looks like: A police officer’s request for the group not to provoke citizens in order to prevent escalation is being portrayed as violence, and the act of placing a hand is being called strangulation. Their displays of extremism and chauvinism are presented as a celebration, while the red paint they used to cover various parts of their bodies is being depicted as blood. Nothing new from them!” he wrote on Facebook.
This statement follows a wave of reactions to Friday’s events, during which comments in northern Kosovo and Belgrade labeled the incident as interethnic, criticizing the Kosovo Police for what was considered excessive use of force. The head of EULEX also deemed the force used as excessive.
