Among the forests of northern Kosovo, a muddy, unpaved road is difficult to travel. Yet it allows people to cross illegally from Kosovo into Serbia and in the opposite direction.
Kosovo Police data show that dozens of roads of this kind remain passable. They are used mainly to smuggle goods.
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Construction materials, food and drinks, fruit, vegetables, meat, cigarettes, clothing, jewelry, perfumes, electrical equipment and pharmaceutical products enter Kosovo through these routes without passing through official border crossings or customs.
On October 22, Kosovo’s institutions carried out their latest major operation against goods smuggling at several locations in the north of the country. Ten people were brought in for questioning, and goods worth more than 200,000 euros were seized.
The alternative routes are also linked to the September 2023 attack in Banjska, in Zvečan. According to Kosovo’s authorities, large quantities of weapons were brought illegally from Serbia along these roads and used in the attack. This is also included in the indictment in the case.
Millan Radoičić, a former deputy leader of the Serbian List, the party of Kosovo Serbs with close ties to the former government in Serbia, claimed responsibility. The alternative routes were also used by the armed group of about 45 people to leave after the attack.
Most members of that group, including Radoičić, remain free. So far, Kosovo’s courts have convicted three Serbs in the case: Vladimir Tolić and Blagoje Spasojević, who were arrested during the attack, and Dušan Maksimović, who was arrested later.
After the events in Banjska, Kosovo Police announced that they had closed more than 20 alternative routes between Kosovo and Serbia. But more than three years later, at least 64 illegal routes to border settlements in the Serbian areas of Novi Pazar and Raška remain passable in the north.
Veton Elshani, a former deputy director of Kosovo Police for the northern region who now heads the Border Police, confirmed the figure to Radio Free Europe. He says it is impossible to close every road because new ones are continually opened. According to him, security institutions cannot build a wall along the border with Serbia.
The existence of these crossings raises the question of what has changed on the ground since the Banjska attack in the use of routes that bypass official border crossings.
Kosovo Police’s 2025 organized crime threat assessment report identifies alternative or illegal routes used for smuggling near the borders with North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania as well. Nevertheless, it describes the border area in northern Kosovo as persistently problematic for smuggling.
In addition to goods, weapons and drugs have been smuggled in this area, and human trafficking has also taken place. According to the report, these activities are more limited than in previous years.
Mentor Vrajolli of the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies told Radio Free Europe that routes leading to illegal crossings with Serbia should be closed, given previous attempts at destabilization. He considers their closure extremely important for Kosovo’s security.
Vrajolli also calls for cooperation with KFOR because, he says, Kosovo Police may not have sufficient capacity to close all the roads. He believes KFOR’s assistance and support from other security institutions in Kosovo may be needed.
Who monitors the alternative routes?
Kosovo Police told Radio Free Europe that alternative routes in the north are continually identified and assessed. According to the police, closing them requires physical and operational measures, while changes in the terrain and the opening of new crossings make constant monitoring necessary.
The border between Kosovo and Serbia is about 350 kilometers long. More than 60 percent of it runs through Kosovo’s northern municipalities, where most residents are Serbs.
Police say the Border Police cooperate and coordinate their actions on the ground with KFOR, which is responsible for security along Kosovo’s border with Serbia, in accordance with their respective mandates and responsibilities.
KFOR told Radio Free Europe that it is aware of the alternative routes near the border. The mission stresses, however, that the existence or passability of a road does not in itself prove that it is used for illegal activities.
According to KFOR, Kosovo Police have primary responsibility for law enforcement and for investigating suspected criminal activities. The mission says it monitors the security situation through various activities and works closely with the relevant institutions. It notes that its mandate is based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244.
Concrete barriers in Brnjak
After the Banjska attack, Kosovo’s authorities began placing concrete barriers at illegal border crossings. They remain visible on the bridge over Lake Ujman in Brnjak, Zubin Potok. The bridge is on the border between Kosovo and Serbia but is not an official border crossing.
Kosovo Police allow vehicles to cross there by going around the barriers, but conduct increased checks. A local resident who spoke to Radio Free Europe on condition of anonymity opposes closing the alternative routes to Serbia, saying it makes travel more difficult for residents.
According to him, residents do not oppose efforts to combat smuggling. But the increased police checks frighten them because they do not have enough trust in Kosovo’s authorities. He says those who remain there are elderly people, people unable to fend for themselves and a small number of children who attend school; the children are scared when the police come because of the checks and arrests that have taken place, and residents are very frightened.
The resident says he personally has no complaints about the police’s conduct but hopes the concrete barriers will be removed from the bridge in Brnjak.
Elshani says that, at this very bridge, a truck caught during an anti-smuggling operation had gone around the barriers. According to him, smuggled goods do not remain only in northern Kosovo but also reach markets south of the Ibar River.
The Basic Prosecution Office in Mitrovica told Radio Free Europe that, from January 2024 to October 2026, it had handled a total of 106 goods-smuggling cases. Of those, 81 have reached a conclusion: investigations were discontinued in two cases, while indictments were filed in all the others.
Radio Free Europe also asked Kosovo’s Special Prosecution Office whether any organized criminal group or network smuggling goods through the routes in the north had been identified, but received no response.
Security after the Banjska attack
KFOR assesses that the overall security situation in Kosovo has improved since the armed attack in Banjska in 2023. For this reason, the mission has announced the start of a process to reorganize the presence of its forces.
According to KFOR, the aim is for the mission to remain prepared to carry out its duties. The process is proceeding gradually and cautiously, depending on conditions on the ground; it may be reviewed or canceled if security developments require it, particularly if they threaten Kosovo’s long-term security and regional stability.
Nevertheless, northern Kosovo and the areas near border crossings with Serbia remain important in KFOR’s security assessments. The mission regularly conducts patrols, sets up checkpoints and communicates with all local communities.
Regarding the alternative routes, KFOR says any change in its assessment of the risks associated with them must be based on verified information. The mission continually assesses the situation and coordinates with Kosovo Police and EULEX, maintaining the capacity, readiness and flexibility to respond to potential threats.
Capacity to control illegal crossings
Vrajolli believes alternative routes and illegal border crossings could lead to renewed destabilization in Kosovo. For that reason, he calls for their closure, above all to prevent weapons smuggling.
According to him, before Serbs left Kosovo’s institutions in 2022, police in the north were more loyal to criminal gangs and Serbia’s parallel structures. As a result, insufficient attention had been paid to preventing illegal activities.
Vrajolli says police in that part of the country now have a higher level of accountability. He adds that, when new police officers are hired, importance is placed on their loyalty to the institutions and the citizens whose safety they are supposed to protect.
Elshani expresses a similar view. He describes Banjska as a particular case and says the attack happened because there was no one to stop it.
According to Vrajolli, the security risk posed by alternative routes in the north could disappear if relations between Kosovo and Serbia are normalized. He says this requires leadership in Serbia.
In his assessment, Kosovo has taken many steps to reduce tensions. Nevertheless, he says members of the Serb community continue to reject integration and acceptance of Kosovo’s institutions because of pressure from official Belgrade.
