Banjska should not be allowed to be "ironed".

Although NATO and the EU reiterate that those primarily responsible for the terrorist attack in Banjska must be brought to justice, neither organization has done enough to make this happen. One even gets the impression that some member states deliberately want to help Serbia so that it, as a state, does not have consequences for Banjska. The EU is no longer even mentioning Banjska among the conditions for Serbia.

In a suspected espionage scandal, in which a Croatian KFOR soldier and a woman suspected of collaborating with Serbian intelligence services were allegedly involved, among the messages exchanged was one about the conflict between Serbs and KFOR soldiers. Among other things, it was said that “they should iron it out as best they can”. In Serbian, “moraju peglati” (they should iron it out) means that they should correct the mistake, so that there are no consequences. And since the attacks on KFOR soldiers and the media in May 2023 in northern Kosovo and the attack on Banjska in September of the same year, not only Serbia, but also some international circles have taken actions to “iron out” Banjska.

Although both NATO and the EU, as well as the main member states, have repeatedly demanded that Belgrade bring to justice those responsible for Banjska and the attack on KFOR soldiers, only those arrested by the Kosovo authorities have been brought to justice. Serbia, meanwhile, has ignored calls to bring to justice the perpetrators of this attack, which even the EU High Representative at the time, Josep Borrell, had called a terrorist attack. Belgrade, in addition to not taking any action itself, is also trying to justify this attack in a way.

Even after the latest verdict in Pristina against those accused of participating in this attack, the blame for this “incident” was placed on Kosovo and what they called “Kurti’s pressure on Serbs”. In no case are there any signals from Belgrade that those primarily responsible for this attack - for whom there is clear evidence - will be brought to justice. Neither for Banjska nor for the attacks on KFOR soldiers.   

Although NATO and the EU reiterate that those primarily responsible for the terrorist attack in Banjska must be brought to justice, neither organization has done enough to make this happen.

One even gets the impression that some member states deliberately want to help Serbia so that it as a state does not have consequences for Banjska. The EU is no longer mentioning Banjska among the conditions for Serbia. The European Commission has announced that it will not make payments to Serbia from some EU funds, but has mentioned the Law on Judges and the composition of the Media Commission as a condition. NATO, on the other hand, through its Secretary General, Mark Rutte, has said that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has promised that those responsible should be brought to justice and that he expects this to happen. But instead of putting pressure on Serbia, NATO is also warning that it will conduct some joint exercises with Serbia, which reflects a kind of trust between them.

Not only is it not good for the stability in Kosovo and the region, but it is also to the detriment of the soldiers of NATO countries themselves not to insist until the end on the responsibility of those who attacked them. And Banjska, on the other hand, was also a failure of the KFOR mission, which was unable to prevent the entry of such a quantity of weapons into the territory of Kosovo, and what is even more serious, some of the attackers were also wearing military uniforms with KFOR insignia.

The EU also seems to have played a double game. On the one hand, it has spoken in very harsh terms about the attack, calling it “terrorist”, and on the other hand, they have done their best to present this event in EU documents as a “major arms trafficking operation”. The EU has also accepted Serbia’s narrative that the attackers were “Kosovo Serbs” to give the impression that it was a local uprising as a sign of dissatisfaction and not an attack prepared and executed from Serbian territory towards Kosovo.

If the EU and NATO really want to ensure that the perpetrators of the attacks during the May riots and the attack in Banjska in September 2023 are brought to justice, then they have more than clear information about who is guilty, where they are and under whose protection they are. Without clear pressure on Serbia, without reservations and without ambiguity, Belgrade will not take any action. And the escape of the main organizers and perpetrators from justice will further damage the credibility of the EU and NATO, as well as hinder the process of normalizing not only relations between Kosovo and Serbia, but also stability in the region. Banjska must not be allowed to be “ironed”. Calls through statements from Brussels will not be enough in this regard. If Belgrade is not willing to punish the perpetrators, if it does not want to cooperate with Kosovo, then the EU and NATO should think of another solution, perhaps even through the creation of a special court, which would deal with this case.