Presidenti serb Aleksandar Vuçiç kritikoi gjykatën e OKB-së, duke e akuzuar për “sjellje të pacivilizuar” pasi nuk lejoi që Mlladiç të dërgohej në Serbi, ku ai dëshironte të vdiste. Beogradi, sipas tij, ende nuk ka marrë informacion nëse trupi i ish-udhëheqësit ushtarak do t’u dorëzohet autoriteteve serbe.

“Nuk kemi informacion nga Haga”, deklaroi Vuçiç para gazetarëve. Ai shtoi se Serbia do të ndihmonte në organizimin e një ceremonie mortore dinjitoze për Mlladiçin, nëse një gjë e tillë do të kërkohej nga familja e tij.

“Tani e shohim se Haga donte që Mlladiç të vdiste në burg”, u shpreh presidenti serb.

“Ata nuk lejuan që gjenerali të vdiste në Serbi, ku ai donte të vdiste. Kjo është sjellje e paqytetëruar, pa precedent dhe pa justifikim”, shtoi ai.

Vdekja e të ashtuquajturit “Kasapi i Bosnjës” ndodhi disa ditë pasi Gjykata Ndërkombëtare Penale për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY) rrëzoi kërkesën e familjes së tij dhe të qeverisë serbe për transferimin e tij në një spital ushtarak në Beograd, ku do të merrte trajtim.

Gjykata e OKB-së kishte deklaruar se gjendja shëndetësore e Mlladiçit ishte kritike, por e qëndrueshme, dhe se ai po merrte trajtim në mënyrën e duhur në qendrën e paraburgimit në Hagë.

Autoritetet serbe po presin të mësojnë se kur Haga do ta dorëzojë trupin, tha ministri serb i Drejtësisë, Nenad Vujic, i cili deklaroi më herët se Mlladiç do të varrosej “me nderimet ushtarake dhe shtetërore që i meriton”.

Sipas raportimeve të mediave serbe, Mlladiç kishte kërkuar të varrosej në një varrezë të Beogradit, pranë vajzës së tij Ana, e cila humbi jetën në vitin 1994.

Ndërkohë, gjykata ka hapur një hetim për rrethanat e vdekjes së tij. Gjyqtari i caktuar për të drejtuar hetimin qëndroi rreth tre orë në qendrën e paraburgimit, por nuk dha deklarata për gazetarët.

Ratko Mlladiç ishte një nga tre figurat kryesore të kampit serb, së bashku me ish-presidentin jugosllav Slobodan Millosheviç dhe ish-udhëheqësin politik të serbëve të Bosnjës, Radovan Karaxhiç, në periudhën kur ish-Jugosllavia u përfshi nga masakrat pas rënies së komunizmit.

Konflikti në Bosnjë shkaktoi rreth 100,000 viktima dhe detyroi 2.2 milionë persona të largoheshin nga shtëpitë e tyre.

Në Srebrenicë, trupat serbe nën drejtimin e Ratko Mlladiç ekzekutuan 8,000 myslimanë boshnjakë, të cilët ishin strehuar në një zonë që supozohej të ishte e mbrojtur nga OKB-ja.

Vuçiç, i cili në vitet 1990 shërbeu si ministër nën regjimin e Slobodan Millosheviçit dhe dikur njihej si ultranacionalist, vitet e fundit është paraqitur si reformator pro-evropian, ndërsa ka ruajtur marrëdhënie të afërta me Rusinë dhe Kinën.

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President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic has announced that he will send a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, asking him not to allow the opening of the main bridge over the Ibar River in Mitrovica.

Vucic said the letter would be sent this evening and expressed hope that the NATO chief would consider his request.

The Serbian president reiterated that Serbia would continue to oppose the opening of the bridge, declaring that he would “fight as much as he can” over the issue.

Meanwhile, KFOR earlier began a gradual process to change its presence at the main bridge over the Ibar.

According to reports, this development is linked to the improvement in the security situation and the gradual adjustment of NATO’s mission in Kosovo.

Islami: Vucic is trying to move the bridge issue from the local to the international level

Avni Islami, a professor of security sciences, told “Bota sot” that Aleksandar Vucic has intensified his rhetoric against plans to open the main bridge over the Ibar River in Mitrovica.

According to him, the Serbian president is expected to send Mark Rutte an official letter requesting that the bridge not be opened to traffic.

“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, a former propaganda minister during the time of Milosevic, has toughened his position toward plans to open the main bridge over the Ibar River in Mitrovica.

He has announced that he will send NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte an official letter with the clear request that the bridge’s opening to traffic be prevented,” Islami said.

He assesses that this approach aims to increase international pressure on Kosovo and directly involve KFOR in decision-making concerning the Ibar Bridge.

Islami believes that Belgrade is trying to create the impression that opening the bridge could endanger the security of Serbs in Kosovo. In this way, according to him, Vucic’s narrative as the “protector” of this community is also reinforced.

“This move clearly demonstrates Vucic’s strategy of shifting the issue from the local level to the highest international and diplomatic arena.

By addressing the NATO chief directly, Belgrade aims to strip Kosovo of its decision-making authority and place NATO and KFOR face-to-face with direct responsibility for maintaining the status quo.

The warning that an official letter will be sent represents a new political escalation and is accompanied by a dangerous security equation. Through this rhetoric, Vucic is pursuing three main objectives: pressuring KFOR and directly implicating NATO troops in blocking the sovereign decisions of Kosovo’s institutions.

At the same time, the aim is to construct a narrative in which the opening of the bridge is portrayed as a threat to the security and stability of the Serbian community, using fear as a tool of pressure. The third objective is to strengthen the image of the “protector” through domestic propaganda claiming that Belgrade remains the sole guarantor of the security and existence of Serbs in Kosovo,” Islami concluded to “Bota sot.”

Shala: The bridge is not merely a road, but a symbol of Mitrovica’s division

Security expert Drizan Shala said in a conversation with “Bota sot” that Vucic’s opposition to the opening of the bridge cannot be explained solely by security arguments, as it also contains political and strategic elements.

According to Shala, the bridge represents the division of Mitrovica, while its opening would weaken this reality and narrow Belgrade’s sphere of influence in northern Kosovo.

“Aleksandar Vucic’s statement that he will address Mark Rutte with a request that the main bridge over the Ibar in Mitrovica not be opened should be analyzed beyond the symbolic importance of the bridge itself.

The first reason Vucic opposes the opening is linked to the fact that the Ibar Bridge is not simply an infrastructure facility. For more than two decades, it has become a symbol of Mitrovica’s physical, political and psychological division.

Opening it would have consequences far broader than allowing vehicles to pass, because it would weaken the bridge’s role as a dividing line.

For Belgrade, preserving this division is politically important. A divided Mitrovica can more easily be presented as evidence of a reality that has not yet been consolidated and as an argument for Serbia’s continued intervention in the affairs of northern Kosovo.

Therefore, opposition to the opening should not be viewed solely as concern for the security of the Serbian community. It has a clear political and strategic background,” Shala said.

He considers Belgrade’s request for NATO involvement in the bridge issue an attempt to intervene in an area that falls under the jurisdiction of Kosovo’s institutions.

Shala emphasizes that Serbia has the right to express security concerns, but it cannot transfer to NATO the authority to decide whether infrastructure in Kosovo should be opened or not.

“If the purpose of the request is for an external authority to stop a decision concerning the operation of territory and infrastructure located under the jurisdiction of Kosovo’s institutions, then we are dealing with interference.

Serbia’s concerns about the security of Serbs in Kosovo can be expressed, and NATO/KFOR should treat them seriously. Nevertheless, a distinction must be made between raising a security concern and requesting that the fate of infrastructure in Kosovo be determined.

In this case, Belgrade is attempting to shift decision-making from Kosovo’s institutions to NATO. This is the issue that must be carefully examined,” he said.

According to Shala, NATO should seriously assess Vucic’s request, but it should not be turned into a political veto over Kosovo’s institutions.

He adds that, in the absence of concrete security threats, the bridge should not continue to remain a symbol of political division.

“NATO should neither disregard the request nor treat it as a political order.

The most professional approach would be to hear it and analyze it from a security perspective, while any attempt to use KFOR as an instrument of Belgrade’s political decision-making should be rejected.

KFOR is responsible for security and stability, but this does not mean that it should assume the powers of Kosovo’s institutions.

The European position has also been that the bridge should be opened, but in coordination with security partners. For this reason, the main question should not be whether Vucic wants the bridge opened, but whether there is a concrete and verifiable threat that would justify keeping it closed.

If there is a concrete threat, it should be addressed with concrete security measures. If no such threat exists, then the security argument cannot be used to preserve a political division.

Belgrade opposes the opening in an area where Kosovo’s institutions have responsibility because the bridge carries symbolic weight far greater than its physical function.

Its opening would convey the message that northern Mitrovica should not be treated as a separate political zone isolated from the rest of Kosovo. This message directly contradicts Belgrade’s political narrative.

From a security perspective, reducing the issue to an Albanian-Serb confrontation must be avoided. The main problem is whether public infrastructure can be kept closed indefinitely simply because it has become a symbol of a political conflict.

The message from the perspective of national security must be clear: Kosovo’s institutions should have primary responsibility for public order and the functioning of infrastructure in Kosovo’s territory. KFOR should guarantee security within its mandate, while political issues should be addressed through political dialogue.

A model must not be allowed to emerge in which every decision by Kosovo’s institutions in the north is blocked through the political pressure Belgrade exerts on NATO. Such a practice would create a dangerous precedent.

Ultimately, the Ibar Bridge is not merely a matter of concrete, asphalt and traffic. It is a test to determine who establishes normality in northern Kosovo. If security can be guaranteed, free movement should be the objective. If threats exist, they must be neutralized, but security must not be used as a pretext for preserving political division.

For this reason, Vucic’s request should be treated with diplomatic seriousness, but it must not be allowed to turn into a political veto over Kosovo’s institutions,” Drizan Shala concluded to “Bota sot.”

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Venko Filipce, leader of the SDSM, has shared on social media a statement by Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, who said that Vucic had taken on the role of “Russia’s PR man.”

In a post on X, Filipce said the Montenegrin prime minister had publicly expressed what they had been saying in Macedonia for a long time.

“Aleksandar Vucic’s interference is not merely a local issue, but a regional problem. The same model is being implemented here through VMRO-DPMNE and Mickoski, serving the agendas of others that directly clash with European interests and values. This is precisely why the European Commission speaks of interference by the ‘Serbian world’,” Filipce wrote.

According to him, this is a coordinated effort aimed at leaving the region, and Macedonia in particular, in a gray area between Europe and Russia.

“The problem lies with those who speak about Europe today, while tomorrow carrying out the agendas of Belgrade and Moscow. Montenegro has said this openly. The time has come for the citizens of Macedonia to understand this clearly as well,” Filipce stressed, also sharing the Montenegrin prime minister’s post.

Meanwhile, Spajic said that Montenegro was not seeking a confrontation with Serbia, but aimed for good-neighborly relations and the pursuit of a clear European policy—something that, according to him, Vucic “does not want to understand.”

The prime minister of Montenegro also criticized the Serbian president for his approach toward Russia, sending him the message that he was playing the role of “Russia’s PR man.”

“It is unbecoming of someone in his position to take on the role of ‘Russia’s PR man’ and lecture others about principles,” Spajic wrote.

Spajic also raised the issue of weapons ending up in Ukraine. /Telegrafi/

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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said that Belgrade is analyzing the possibility of intervening in the course of the Ibar River, raising concerns for Kosovo. According to him, Serbia is engaging experts, engineers and construction professionals to examine how such a project could be implemented. He linked the warning directly to his claims about the treatment of Serbs in Kosovo.

Vucic said that, as long as their people are being harassed to this extent, Serbia would consider the various reasons it has for diverting the waters of the Ibar. He added that they would see what the Albanians would do and how they would act, while emphasizing that Serbia is a sovereign state and would behave in accordance with its own interests.

Meanwhile, last year, acting official Hysen Durmishi, on behalf of the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, signed the decision granting preliminary protection to the “Mokna Mountain and Ujman Lake” area. This is considered one of the most important decisions for the protection and preservation of the Republic of Kosovo’s natural heritage.

The Serbian president also addressed those who, in his words, present themselves as “great defenders of the interests of the Serbian people.” He asked them to ask Serbs in Kosovo whom they consider their sole protector.

Speaking about the possibility of a confrontation, Vucic raised the question of whether Serbia could go to war with NATO at this time, saying that he did not consider such a thing possible. According to him, the Serbian authorities are doing everything they can to make life easier for Serbs, whose lives he described as extremely difficult.

Vucic repeated his warning about the Ibar River, stating that Serbia has various reasons for diverting its waters. He said that the Albanians’ reaction and conduct would be observed, while stressing that, as a sovereign country, Serbia sometimes has interests of one kind and sometimes other interests, and would therefore act according to the circumstances.

He also criticized those who, as he put it, “would be happy to sit in cafés and taverns” and lecture others that they are not heroes, even though the person they attack has fought far harder than all of them combined. Vucic said patriotic feelings are good, but called on critics always to explain what solution they propose.

According to the Serbian president, he discussed Kosovo today with Matthias Döfner of Ax Springer, whom he described as one of the most powerful people in Europe. Vucic said that the conversation also addressed the “Pandora’s box” that, according to him, was opened in 1999.

His message was that Serbia does not sit on several chairs, but has only one: the Serbian chair.

Responding today to criticism that Serbia is trying to sit on many chairs, Vucic said that his country has only its own chair, the Serbian one. He said that he is attacked for this policy in Germany, the US and England, as well as frequently in Russia and Ukraine.

Vucic said that he is not interested in this criticism and that it only confirms his policy. He said he does not want Serbia to be anyone’s servant, recalling that he was elected and took his oath on the Constitution and the Miroslav Gospel. According to him, if necessary, sacrifices must be made to protect the country’s independence and autonomy.

The Serbian president added that lectures about Kosovo are also coming from Montenegro, specifically from those who send their missions to Kosovo.

He criticized countries that have recognized Kosovo and that, according to him, think of nothing else. Vucic also mentioned those who send soldiers to celebrate “Storm” and then remind him about patriotism. According to him, those same people are ready to deliver a “funeral speech” for Serbia over any agreement with Pristina, even when it is a trade agreement, while their recognition of Kosovo is treated as something normal and permissible.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Belgrade and meeting with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vučić, have been commented on by security affairs expert Dorajt Imeri.

In a post on X, Imeri criticized Zelensky’s rapprochement with the Serbian president, describing Vučić as “Putin’s shadow in the Balkans.” “Volodymyr Zelensky, you have just embraced Putin’s shadow in the Balkans: Aleksandar Vučić. I have to say this: you risk being deeply disappointed by this effort to find new friends in your war. Serbia has not condemned Russia’s aggression against your country,” he wrote.

During a joint press conference in Belgrade, Zelensky stated that Ukraine’s position on Kosovo’s independence had not changed.

“We respect the territorial integrity of our partners and international law. Regarding Kosovo, our position remains unchanged. We are grateful to Serbia for respecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including Crimea,” the Ukrainian president said.

Ukraine does not recognize Kosovo’s independence, which was declared in 2008. Nevertheless, Kosovo has aligned itself with European Union and United States sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, while Pristina has also provided shelter to Ukrainian journalists who left the country because of the conflict.

Vučić, for his part, said that military cooperation had also been discussed during his talks with Zelensky. Serbia is one of the few European countries that has not joined sanctions against Russia, which launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“What will happen when the war ends is another matter,” said Vučić, who received Zelensky on his first official visit to Serbia.

The Serbian president also announced that a drone factory would open in Serbia in mid-September, in cooperation with Israeli partners.

“The Ukrainians are very successful and have many of their own drone factories,” Vučić added.

Zelensky, meanwhile, stressed that Ukraine is seeking a dignified peace and that every opportunity that could lead to achieving it must be used, Radio Free Europe reports.

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According to professor Muhamet Kelmendi, these statements prove the unchanged continuity of official Belgrade’s policy towards Kosovo, therefore he calls for tougher institutional actions, both diplomatically and in increasing the country’s defense capabilities.

Kelmendi sees the declaration of Paunovic as persona non grata as a right gesture, but not complete. He emphasizes the need for Kosovo to deny entry to President Aleksandar Vucic and Minister Ivica Dacic as well, adding that legal measures should be considered against Serbian officials who, according to him, spread hatred and threats.

The professor links the figure of Paunovic with Serbian ultranationalist circles, which he considers based on revanchist ideology and responsible for four wars and conflicts in the Balkans. He assesses that such messages embody the stance of the Serbian state itself, recalling also Dacic’s earlier statement, whom he calls racist, that whoever is not Serb should go to Albania.

Kelmendi underlines that no major political force in Serbia, whether in government or opposition, expresses views different from the aim to bring Kosovo back under control and to Serbianize the Dardanian territory. In this light, he describes the non grata declaration of Paunovic as an initial step, but insists that the Kosovo government must directly hit the Serbian executive itself and President Vucic, by banning their entry and initiating legal proceedings for inciting racial hatred.

The latest statements, according to him, show that Serbia has not evolved in its approach towards its western neighbor. He calls on official Tirana, the European Union, and the United States of America to react, while emphasizing that the country must invest in a larger army, a better-equipped police force, and better conditions and salaries in the security sector.

According to Kelmendi, in the face of open radical threats, political clarity and institutional response are required. He argues that a military force of about four thousand personnel is insufficient for the defense of the republic and that Kosovo needs a stronger active army, as well as a well-prepared police force. Improving working conditions and salaries in these sectors, according to him, should be a priority of the next executive, while the situation demands vigilance and continuous military and institutional preparation.

The Serbian minister in question has already been declared persona non grata and banned from entering the territory of Kosovo.

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According to Vucic, the request had been submitted in line with procedures and the Serbian authorities had granted all the relevant approvals.

“They submitted the request properly and received all the permits from the Serbian authorities. We are talking about the president of Albania, not the president of something else,” Vucic said.

Asked by the JUGpress agency whether the people with long guns who guaranteed Begaj’s security during his stay in Bujanoc were “ours or theirs,” Vucic gave a short reply: “Ours.”

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According to Miftari, their appearance only reinforces what, he says, is already widely known in international public opinion.

“The appearance of Radoicic and the ‘Red Beards’ at the protest to defend the power of Aleksandar Vucic, together with Vucic’s statement about the terrorist Milan Radoicic, once again proves what the whole world knows: that Radoicic is simply a tool of Vucic and Vulin.

It is interesting that at the time the attack in Banjska happened, Vucic had gone to the UN, to New York in America, so that he would be away from Kosovo precisely when the takeover of northern Kosovo by Serbian terrorists was expected to be carried out. Equally interesting remains the fact that for this plan, a commander together with his staff is suspected of having been corrupted as well, one who had hundreds of soldiers under his command in northern Kosovo and was part of a military structure of a NATO member state. The covert operation was led by Aleksandar Vulin, who reported every hour to his boss, A. Vucic,” he declared.

He further assessed that the actions of the institutions in northern Kosovo have undergone a major change compared with earlier periods, underlining that today the state has more control and determination on the ground.

“But they got their calculations wrong. The Government of Kosovo, Prime Minister Kurti and the Kosovo Police were not like in the past, when Hashim Thaci had sent the police to the north for the rule of law, while behind the scenes the partition of the north with Serbia was being prepared. After the killing of Enver Zymberi and the wounding of many Kosovo police officers, the state of Kosovo had withdrawn from the north in shame.

In the case of Banjska, Thaci was in prison, while Kosovo’s government under Albin Kurti had seriously decided that not a single inch of Kosovo would be ruled or controlled by Belgrade’s gangs, drug gangs and smuggling gangs,” he added.

In the end, Miftari emphasized the role of Kosovo’s current institutions and that of international factors in developments related to security in the north of the country.

“Kosovo had a master of the house and sons who defend the state of Kosovo. Kosovo was lucky that France had withdrawn its pro-Serbian army from the north of Kosovo. Also, another stroke of luck was that a French DGSE agent was in prison in The Hague. And it was fortunate that we now had Prime Minister Albin Kurti, President Vjosa Osmani and Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla. Kosovo was lucky,” Miftari concluded for “Bota sot”.

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