Haxhiu calls for international response after footage shows Radoiçiq near Vuçiq’s son

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu has responded to footage published by Serbian media showing Milan Radoiçiq near the son of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuçiq at an SNS rally in Kragujevac.

According to Haxhiu, Radoiçiq’s presence at the rally shows that the organizer of the Banjska attack is not only being sheltered in Serbia but is also welcomed in circles of power.

She called on Serbian authorities to hand Radoiçiq over to Kosovo, along with the others wanted in connection with the September 24, 2023, attack in which Kosovo Police Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed.

Haxhiu called on the international community to back the demand for their handover with concrete pressure on Serbia and consequences if it fails to comply. She stressed that those responsible must face justice in Kosovo.

In her statement, Haxhiu described the Banjska attack as terrorist. She recalled that the heavily armed group led by Milan Radoiçiq attacked the Police of the Republic of Kosovo with the aim, she said, of undermining the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Kosovo’s institutions repelled the attack, while those responsible have yet to face justice.

Haxhiu noted that Radoiçiq has publicly taken responsibility for organizing the attack and is internationally wanted. In her view, his public appearance at a rally of Serbia’s ruling party cannot be seen merely as a lack of cooperation with justice: his closeness to those in power raises questions about the political responsibility of the Serbian authorities. She called on those authorities to stop protecting him and hand him over to Kosovo.

According to Haxhiu, continued tolerance of this situation would send the message that a terrorist attack that claims lives can go unpunished when its perpetrators are protected by those in power. She stressed that securing justice for Afrim Bunjaku and holding the organizers of the Banjska attack accountable are non-negotiable obligations for Kosovo. She said they must be tried by the courts of the Republic of Kosovo, and neither the passage of time nor ties to those in power in Belgrade absolve the people who planned and carried out the attack.