BIA arrests, Shala: Serbia is waging hybrid warfare against Kosovo

The latest BIA operation in Serbia, which led to the arrest of two people, is being interpreted as an attempt to construct a disinformation narrative and wage hybrid warfare against Kosovo’s national security.

D.C., 46, from Shillova in the municipality of Gjilan, was detained in Vranje, while N.P., 50, from Jagodina, was arrested in that city. The operation was carried out yesterday by the BIA, in cooperation with the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Jagodina and the police administrations of Vranje and Jagodina.

According to the Serbian authorities’ suspicions, the detainees passed information about the BIA and its operations to Albania’s State Intelligence Service (SHISH), Kosovo’s Intelligence Agency and the intelligence unit of the Kosovo Police.

Security expert Drizan Shala has warned that Kosovo’s security institutions must exercise increased caution, particularly ahead of the election campaign in Serbia.

Shala believes that these developments may be part of an effort to destabilize the country, accompanied by disinformation and hybrid warfare against Kosovo’s national security.

“Our security institutions must be careful and more vigilant, because at this stage, ahead of the election campaign in Serbia, we may see various actions aimed at destabilizing [Kosovo] in the form of a campaign of disinformation and hybrid warfare directed against the national security of the Republic of Kosovo by Serbia’s structures,” Shala said.

According to the expert, the arrests may be intended to create a justification for the actions of Serbian institutions at a time when Kosovo’s security structures have previously taken measures to neutralize the activities of Serbia’s Intelligence Service in Kosovo.

“The arrests carried out by Serbia’s intelligence service, on suspicion that its citizens are collaborators of the Albanian Intelligence Service, once again demonstrate the fact that Serbia is now seeking to find full justification for these activities, which had been carried out by our security structures in the Republic of Kosovo by neutralizing the actions of Serbia’s Intelligence Service in Kosovo,” he said.

Such developments usually trigger reactions and are viewed as attempts to destabilize the country.