A Serbian court near the Kosovo border ordered the release of three Kosovo police officers on Monday who were detained earlier this month. Prosecutors in the Serbian city of Kraljevo, just over one hundred kilometers north of the Kosovo border, indicted the officers for trafficking explosive weapons into Serbia. The High Court of Kraljevo released the officers, allowing their return to Kosovo, despite allowing the charges against them to stand. Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani especially thanked the US for its support of the officers’ release.
The arrest of the officers led to increased tension between Serbia and Kosovo. Kosovo authorities claimed that the officers were “kidnapped” from within their borders. Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, said “Even though we are joyous that they get to return to their families, this abduction consists of a serious human rights violation and must be reprimanded. The Serbian aggression must be held accountable.” Serbian officials disputed the kidnapping claim. According to AP, Serbia’s chief negotiator with Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, said the proceedings against the officer will continue.
The detention of the police officers was not the only political arrest to heat up Serbia-Kosovo relations in June. Aside from that case, Petkovic also negotiated the release of Rados Petrovic on June 23rd. Petrovic is an ethnic Serb from Zvecan, a northern region of Kosovo. He was one of several arrested by Kosovo authorities during peaceful protests against mayoral elections that elected an ethnic Albanian mayor in the majority Serb area. Many Serbian residents see the election as “illegitimate” and do not participate. Despite protesting peacefully, Kosovo’s authorities charged Petrovic with four serious criminal offenses.
On June 24th, Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti claimed that Kosovo authorities prevented a “terrorist attack.” He claimed that a Serbian state-owned vehicle was stopped 100 kilometers from Zvecan and that Kosovo police found a large cache of military-grade weapons produced in Serbia inside.
