North Mitrovica was once again teeming with members of the so-called Kosovo Police special units this morning, patrolling the city streets with long guns. They were visible in groups at almost every crossroads in the city, and some were even patrolling the promenade itself, as reported by a Kosovo Online reporter.
The patrols consisted of groups of three to five police officers, all armed with long guns.
Yesterday, there was not a single street or entrance where members of the special police units were not present.
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Following the visit of the Prime Minister of the temporary Pristina institutions, Albin Kurti, and Minister Dželjalj Sveçlja to Zubin Potok yesterday due to the explosion on the Ibar-Lepenac canal, columns of special units headed from southern to northern Mitrovica in the afternoon and were deployed at multiple points in the city.
The fact that there were more police forces in northern Kosovo than ever before was confirmed earlier today by the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petković, who said that Pristina had been amassing police forces yesterday, bringing in more than 10 buses of fully armed police to southern Mitrovica, from where they crossed over to the north.
According to him, this incident is contrary to the interests of the Republic of Serbia and the Serb people in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, stating that the damaged canal also supplies water to the Serbs in the north of the Province.
“Such an incident, which could lead to some kind of humanitarian disaster, is contrary to the interests of the Republic of Serbia and the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija, because, among other things, the canal that was damaged in the village of Varage also supplies water to the Serbs who live in northern Kosovo and Metohihia. So, that is absolutely not in the interest of Belgrade and the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija,” Petković told Radio-Television Serbia (RTS).
He reminded that Belgrade had called on KFOR and EULEX to conduct an independent investigation, stressing that if it is determined that anyone involved is part of the official Belgrade, they will be held accountable, and he expects the same from Pristina. As he stated, “For years we have been building a regional water system and have invested a lot of money in it.”
“For years we have been fighting for an energy agreement and finally managed to obtain Elektrosever, which now has a kind of autonomy in supplying electricity to the residents of northern Kosovo and Metohija. We fought for our people to have both water and electricity, and what happened is completely contrary to that. So, when you put things together, you will see that it absolutely does not suit official Belgrade,” Petković emphasized.
He assessed that there is a kind of additional occupation of northern Kosovo and Metohija by the Prime Minister of the temporary Pristina institutions, Albin Kurti, and the regime in Pristina.
“You have a kind of unlawful fortification of northern Kosovo and Metohija. There is hardly a day when (Minister of the Interior of the temporary Pristina institutions Dželjalj) Sveçlja or Albin Kurti do not lay some kind of foundation stone or work on building new police stations in northern Kosovo and Metohija. So, three new police stations in Leposavić, one new police station in Zubin Potok, four substations, in Zvečan they use the municipal building for a substation,” Petković said and specified that these are “facilities for the Albanian Kosovo police.”
He added that in Banjska they also use premises for the so-called Kosovo police, and that in Kosovska Mitrovica they use the space where the military repair facility used to be for the same purpose.
“Not to mention the fact that they have built four illegal bases in the municipalities of Zubin Potok and Leposavić. They are building a police base at that notorious place near Bistrički Bridge, where six Serbs were shot. There is no point where they have not illegally placed the Kosovo police, the Albanian Kosovo police, who according to the Brussels Agreement have no place in northern Kosovo and Metohija, especially not with long guns,” Petković said.
He emphasized that the incident in the village of Varage gave Kurti an alibi to continue with new attacks on Serbs in the AP KiM and with the policy of persecuting the Serb people, Petković concluded.
On Friday evening, an explosion occurred in the village of Varage near Zubin Potok, damaging the Ibar-Lepenac canal, which disrupted the water supply, and Pristina accused Belgrade of the attack.
President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić stated yesterday that Serbia categorically denies any involvement in the attack on the Ibar-Lepenac canal and called for a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation of this act of sabotage.
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Source: B92, Photo: Tanjug/Kancelarija za KiM