Serbian PM Tells UN Security Council: Belgrade Has Nothing To Do With the Banjska Event, Ready To Provide Evidence

Ana Brnabic, Kosovo - Security Council, 9450th meeting. Oct. 23 2023. (Photo: PrintScreen UN Web TV)

Addressing the UN Security Council session on Oct. 23, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that Belgrade had nothing to do with the Sept. 24 event in the village of Banjska in North Kosovo, when an armed clash occurred between a group of armed Serbs and the Kosovo police, adding that Belgrade was ready to provide evidence to the international community.

“I want to assert responsibly that Belgrade, or Serbia’s security structures, had nothing to do with this event, and we are prepared to provide all information and evidence available today to the international community to confirm this statement,” Brnabic said at the UN Security Council session discussing the latest biannual report of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the work of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

Brnabic said that “the key event from which everything irreversibly began to move toward comprehensive destabilization were the sham local elections held in April” in four Serb-majority municipalities in North Kosovo.

She went on to say that the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija “has tragically, but predictably, escalated on Sept. 24, when an armed conflict occurred in the village of Banjska,” adding that the events in Banjska “are a logical consequence of the reign of fear and terror that Priština decided to enforce, despite clear demands for de-escalation from the international community.”

The Serbian prime minister also said that at this point, the most rational approach would be for the NATO-led KFOR “to temporarily assume full responsibility for security in northern Kosovo and Metohija,” adding that UNMIK could play “a significant role” in the process.

“Dialogue is the only way to solve the problems of Kosovo and Metohija. We call for new local elections in the north of Kosovo and Metohija to be held as soon as possible, as part of de-escalation efforts,” Brnabic said in her address to the UN Security Council.