Ardian Gola at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly: Serbia protects criminal structures, Radoiçiq still lives freely

At the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Ardian Gola, said that the existence of parallel structures and criminal groups in northern Kosovo, backed by Serbia, clearly shows that Belgrade is not working toward the normalization of relations with Kosovo.

He stressed that Serbia continues to provide protection to people with criminal responsibility, including war criminals and individuals who pose a security risk, which, according to him, runs counter to the principles on which the Council of Europe was built. Gola said that if the goal is the democratization of Serbia, these problems must not be covered up with softened diplomatic language, because what matters is how unpleasant truths are confronted. He added that Serbia will, sooner or later, be forced to face this reality.

Gola congratulated the rapporteurs on the report, saying it contains a number of important recommendations that would help Serbia on the path to democratization. However, he pointed out that the report pays insufficient attention to long-term violations of minority rights, especially those affecting the Albanian community in Serbia, and said he wanted to dwell on the infamous attack in Banjska.

According to him, the way the report describes this event does not properly reflect its nature, as it is presented there simply as a clash between the police and armed Serb individuals. Gola recalled that the European Parliament, in its Resolution on Banjska, described the event in these words: “A heavily armed group of Serbian paramilitaries carried out a terrorist attack in the north of Kosovo.” He also mentioned the position of EU High Representative Josep Borrell, who condemned it as a “horrendous and cowardly terrorist attack against Kosovo Police officers.”

Gola also said that the operation was led by Milan Radoiçiq, widely known as a close associate of President Vuçiq, who publicly took responsibility for the attack in which Kosovo Police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed, leaving behind three small children without their father.

He added that this attack highlights several unpleasant truths about democracy and the rule of law in Serbia. According to Gola, Serbia has still not shown the will to build normal relations, especially with Kosovo, while instead of accountability it continues to protect those responsible, as evidenced by the fact that Radoiçiq continues to live freely and under protection in Serbia. In this way, he said, Serbia has turned into a violator of the very values the Council of Europe was founded to protect and promote. For this reason, according to Gola, unpleasant facts should not be softened or hidden with neutralizing language, because the true test of a state lies in how it confronts unpleasant truths, and Banjska is one of them, which Serbia will have to face sooner or later.