Sveçla: Serbia used terror to target annexation of 17 percent of Kosovo’s territory

Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla declared that the September 24, 2023, offensive in Banjska was the most serious blow against Kosovo since liberation, describing it as a well-thought-out operation supported by Serbia.

Sveçla made these comments during a commemorative ceremony for Kosovo Police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku, who lost his life in the confrontation with the Serbian paramilitary formation in Banjska.

“Three years ago today, our country faced the widest aggression since liberation. An aggression designed and supported by the state apparatus of Serbia and executed by its paramilitary gangs,” the minister said.

He added that from the early hours of that day, Banjska turned into a theater of clash between two diametrically opposed aims. “Serbia, through terrorist acts, was attempting to annex 17 percent of the territory of the Republic of Kosovo. On the other hand, our police officers bore on their shoulders the sole duty to protect citizens, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic, each of them aware that this could cost them their lives,” Sveçla stressed.

Evoking the figure of sergeant Afrim Bunjaku, the minister underlined that he resisted until the last moments of his existence and that he now serves as a guide for all Kosovo Police forces.

“The hero Afrim Bunjaku stood at the forefront of the fight until his last breath, serving the homeland. That day he led his colleagues and ever since remains their moral compass,” Sveçla continued. “His resistance and that of the entire Kosovo Police made possible the full uncovering of the detailed plot that Serbia had woven against our country. This was not an ordinary fall, therefore it is heroic. Afrim defended his comrades, the people and the territorial inviolability of the Republic. The state preserved its integrity thanks to the qualified work, bravery and commitment of police members, who even after the loss of their fellow fighter, remained steadfast at the head of duty. They were inspired by Afrim’s model and the martyrs before him, as well as by the responsibility to protect the state. In those extremely challenging conditions, their calm, self-control and professionalism showed the strength of an institution that, even in the face of the fall of one of its members, continued without wavering its mission and the defense of the Republic,” the minister concluded.