Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has renewed calls for Milan Radoičić and other members of the armed group involved in the September 2023 Banjska attack to face justice in Kosovo, three years after the deadly incident.
Speaking at a memorial ceremony for Kosovo Police Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku, who was killed in Banjska on September 24, 2023, Kurti described the attack as an attempt, supported by Serbia, to undermine Kosovo’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Kurti said northern Kosovo had for years been portrayed as an uncontrolled area where organized crime, parallel structures and criminal groups operated outside the rule of law. He argued that efforts to extend Kosovo’s institutional authority in the north had been met by what he described as mobilization by criminal structures directed and organized from Belgrade.
Referring specifically to the Banjska attack, Kurti described the armed group as a Serbian-backed paramilitary formation led by Milan Radoičić. According to Kurti, the group was financed, trained and instructed by Serbian state structures.
“The paramilitary attack in Banjska three years ago was carried out by a group of terrorists supported, financed, trained and instructed by the state of Serbia, led by Milan Radoičić,” Kurti said.
The attack began when an armed group ambushed a Kosovo Police patrol near Banjska. Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed in the attack, while other police officers were wounded. The ensuing clashes left several members of the armed group dead.
Kurti said Radoičić and other members of the group remain in Serbia and accused Serbian authorities of protecting them.
“Three years after the Banjska attack, Milan Radoičić and the other members of the terrorist paramilitary group continue to be sheltered in Serbia. They must face justice in Kosovo and be tried for the attack organized against our state and for the killing of Afrim Bunjaku,” Kurti said.
Radoičić, a former senior figure in the Serbian List, has remained outside Kosovo since the attack. Kosovo prosecutors have charged him and dozens of others in connection with the incident, while several defendants remain outside the reach of Kosovo authorities. Three defendants were convicted by a Kosovo court in April 2026, with Blagoje Spasojević and Vladimir Tolić sentenced to life imprisonment and Dušan Maksimović receiving a 30-year sentence.
Kurti said Kosovo would continue pursuing those it considers responsible for the attack.
“We will not stop until there is justice,” he said, describing Bunjaku’s death as a sacrifice made in defense of Kosovo’s state institutions, sovereignty and rule of law.
The third anniversary has again brought the issue of accountability to the forefront of Kosovo-Serbia relations. NATO has also reiterated calls for those responsible for violence in Kosovo in 2023 to be held accountable, while Kosovo has urged international partners to press Serbia to hand over suspects.
