Belgrade Condemns Torching of Kosovo Serb Politician’s Car

The Director of Serbia's Office for Kosovo, Marko Djuric, on Thursday denounced the arson attack on the car of Srpska Lista presidency member Slavko Simic in northern Kosovo in the early hours of the day.

It was "a cowardly act by those who believe that the will of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija to fight for their rights and survival can be dulled in this way", Djuric said.

Simic's car was set on fire in front of the building where he lives in the northern town of Leposavic.

Lieutenant Branislav Radovic, Kosovo Police Spokesperson for the Northern Region, told the online news portal KoSSev the Peugot was set alight at 12:25am while parked in an unfinished garage in front of the building where the owner lives.

But Djuric insisted the attack was designed to send "a message that fighters for the rights of the Serbian people are nowhere safe and that their lives and property are endangered wherever they are".

He urged members of the Belgrade-directed party to "react with restraint" while calling for the authorities to investigate the crime and to punish those responsible.

The attack happened days after some Kosovo Albanians uploaded pictures of their cars with tires blown in southern Serbia out to a Facebook group, claiming that nails were deliberately left on the highway by Kosovo Serbs.

Whether the events are directly related is unclear, however. Mafia-style attacks are common in the Serb-run north of Kosovo.

In January 2019, BIRN reported that it had catalogued 74 attacks on Kosovo Serbs involving guns, grenades, arson or explosive devices since 2014, the year Srpska Lista first took power after landmark local elections.

Targets include politicians, members of the police or security forces,...

Continue reading on: