Belgrade, 02 / 22 / 2024.
PUBLIC STATEMENT
NARRATIVE, FACTS AND THE INCIDENT IN BANJSKA
Forum for Security and Democracy notes with deepest concern that after the months-long silence surrounding the investigation by the Higher Public Prosecutors' Office in Belgrade into Milan Radoičić and the incident in Northern Kosovo, in Banjska, on September 24th 2023, the Serbian public is now facing the unfolding of a narrative which on one hand can be viewed as undue influence on the acting prosecutor, while on the other hand it can be considered an attempt to reinterpret the incident itself.
FSD finds it necessary for this reason to remind the public that Mr. Radoičić and other unnamed perpetrators aren't being investigated for a mere causing of general danger - but rather because 1) there is reasonable doubt that they were a member of an organized group which with 2) illegally acquired weapons 3) illegally crossed the administrative line between Serbia and Kosovo where they have, in Banjska, committed something the laws of Serbia qualify as a 4) grave offence against general safety, while the same deed has been deemed by the European Parliament Resolution from October 19th 2023 an 5) act of terrorism.
FSD concurrently points out that the current reinterpretations of the incident in Banjska don't just oppose the findings of the Higher Public Prosecutors' office and the EP Resolution, but they also directly endanger Serbian foreign-policy positions in way which, after the passing of the EP Resolution on the recently held snap elections in Serbia, can only deepen the already existing crisis in Serbia's relations with the EU.
FSD therefore calls on all the competent institutions to do everything in their jurisdiction to shed light on all the circumstances surrounding the incident in Banjska, to determine through investigation how Radoičić's group acquired the weapons they used in the incident and to sanction in accordance with the law not just those directly responsible for the incident but also those groups and individuals who aided in the forming and arming of Radoičić's group.
FSD warns that Serbia's failure to do this bare minimum could have serious implications for the future of Serbia's candidacy for EU membership. Moreover, Serbia would risk being viewed - a country which doesn't seek to sanction the activities of paramilitary formations neither on its own territory nor on the territory controlled by KFOR - as a security risk by its international partners, not just locally but also on a larger scale.
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