This is only the beginning!” – Bytyçi calls for an in-depth investigation into the Serbian network following the indictment of Sheholli and mentions Milaim Zeka

The Kosovo Special Prosecution Office has filed an indictment against Fatmir Sheholli on charges of “espionage” and “blackmail.” According to the indictment, he is suspected of having cooperated with Serbia’s Security and Information Agency (BIA), while in another case he allegedly blackmailed an individual for more than 13,000 euros.

The case has prompted broader discussions about the presence and activities of Serbian security structures in Kosovo, the spread of pro-Serbian narratives, and their potential influence on politics and the media in the Albanian-speaking sphere.

Professor Enver Bytyçi told “Bota sot” that the Sheholli case should serve as the starting point for expanded investigations and should not be treated merely as an isolated incident.

According to Bytyçi, the investigation should shed light on how the alleged espionage network and Serbian influence in Kosovo operate. He recalled a video broadcast on a television program in Kosovo, in which Sheholli had sent a meme from the Serbian security service claiming the “recruitment of Kurti by the BIA.”

The professor said the prosecution and investigators should clarify how such material, which he described as a staged diversionary act against Kosovo’s prime minister, ended up on television screens. He also called for explanations regarding a statement by Sheholli, according to which it was strange that Kurti had been released on Koštunica’s orders.

Bytyçi assessed that the interview made it easy to understand which narrative Sheholli was conveying and how that narrative had become part of the opposition’s political discourse in Kosovo.

He stressed that uncovering Sheholli’s alleged activities represents only the beginning of a process that should include monitoring and analyzing every pro-Serbian narrative in Kosovo, as well as in Albania.

As an example, Bytyçi cited a debate held several years ago on Euronews Albania with Milaim Zeka, in which they discussed the most recent or second-most-recent Open Balkan meeting in Belgrade. According to him, Zeka had asked why Kurti had not gone to the summit himself, even without an invitation, to see whether Vučić would turn him away.

Bytyçi said he had been surprised by Zeka’s belief in the Serbian president’s “goodwill” and added that a video of the debate can be found on YouTube. He raised the question of how many similar cases may have appeared in television debates, describing them as countless.

The professor claimed that there had been many cases on television in which Serbian narratives were vigorously defended. For this reason, he called for an investigation into whether Sheholli or other people like him had played a role in these developments, also asking why, allegedly, only Milazim had been given money to broadcast the Serbian BIA’s version on television.

He said that what has happened so far with the media and part of the political sphere in Kosovo and Albania may be a project of Belgrade, but stressed that it is up to the justice system to determine who was deceived and who was paid to promote these positions.

Bytyçi added that the investigation should examine not only the people involved in specific cases, but also how narratives favoring Serbia are created and disseminated. According to him, this discourse is often presented through concepts such as compromise, the public interest, freedom of expression, coexistence, and the need to live in peace with one’s neighbors.

In this context, he mentioned Edi Rama, Baton Haxhiu, and other people whom he described as intellectuals, saying that pro-Serbian positions often begin with arguments presented as liberal. According to Bytyçi, these terms are used to legitimize not only a liberal logic, but also activities he considers anti-national and serving the enemies of Albania, Kosovo, and Albanians.

The professor called for Kosovo’s and Albania’s security institutions to be investigated as well, including the possibility that certain individuals may have had ties to Serbian services. He said that a spy remains a spy and that espionage is a profession.

Bytyçi expressed surprise that Fatmir Sheholli, whom he described as a sophisticated spy, had been able to receive one million euros from Thaçi’s AKI and from Albania. He also raised questions about payments of hundreds of thousands of euros that, according to him, were given to Baton Haxhiu’s son by Albania’s SHIK for an alleged engagement with Albania’s secret service.

He asked why people known for providing services to enemy intelligence agencies are favored and called on the justice system to verify whether Albania’s and Kosovo’s secret services, or structures that existed previously, included individuals recruited by Serbia’s BIA.

According to Bytyçi, the Sheholli case should lead to uncovering the full dynamics and alleged network of Serbian espionage in Kosovo and the Albanian-inhabited territories. He said a figure of more than 10,000 people has been mentioned, but that, logically, the number could be in the tens of thousands, given Serbia’s very large budget for destabilizing Kosovo and dismantling its state.

The professor called for the discovery of where Serbia’s hundreds of millions, and perhaps billions, of euros end up, who receives them, what services are provided, and what contracts have been signed. He added that the politicians who support Serbia’s secret service should also be identified, while statements by people such as Sheholli should be used to deepen the investigations.

According to Bytyçi, another outcome of such an investigation should be the isolation of individuals proven to have cooperated with foreign espionage structures. He stressed that legal punishment and social distancing from this activity are essential to protecting Kosovo’s security.

Bytyçi said spies should fear not only the justice system, but society as well. He recalled the period when Ibrahim Rugova had unified Kosovo as never before in its history, claiming that at that time spies had gone into hiding, did not appear on Albanian screens, and appeared only on Serbian ones, as Fatmir Sheholli had also done.

According to him, punishment is one of the ways to isolate the activities of Serbian spies in Kosovo and elsewhere. He said that removing them from politics and television screens is the only way to achieve this isolation.

Bytyçi concluded that the BIA project found on Fatmir Sheholli’s phone is sufficient reason to treat the matter with the utmost seriousness. He warned that Kosovo’s national security is threatened above all by the transmission of the Serbian agenda through the media and politics, via narratives spread by people acting in Serbia’s interests.