Prishtina, 24 September 2026
Honourable Speaker of the Assembly and Acting President of the Republic, Ms Albulena Haxhiu,
Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Ms Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz,
Honourable Xhelal Sveçla, Minister of Internal Affairs,
Honourable Colonel Gazmend Hoxha, Director General of the Kosovo Police,
Honourable Bunjaku family, wife Lumnije, daughter Arbenita, sons Fatlum and Jetlum, brother Mujë Bunjaku,
Honourable representatives of the diplomatic corps, Excellencies, ambassadors and other diplomats accredited to our country,
Honourable Members of the Assembly of the Republic, ministers, deputy ministers and other colleagues from the Government,
Honourable police officers, colleagues of Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku,
Honourable families of the nation’s martyrs,
Honourable war invalids and veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army,
Dear citizens of the Republic,
Distinguished guests,
Brothers and sisters,
Ladies and gentlemen,
For many years, the north of Kosovo had continuously been written and spoken about, and talked about, as a hotspot of destabilization, a no-man’s land, and an uncontrolled area where organized crime, parallel structures and criminal groups flourished. Its mountainous terrain and difficult, rugged landscape had become easily accessible spaces for the smuggling of weapons and goods, various illegal activities, and the movement in and out of numerous criminal figures. There was a tacit understanding that in the north of Kosovo, people could live and profit outside the orbit of the rule of law and democratic order. This unacceptable and alarming situation had to change. The transition from anomaly to normality was met with the mobilization of criminal structures and groups directed and organized by official Belgrade.
Serbia failed several times to preserve its extensive influence in the north of our country. Neither the barricades, nor repeated attacks against our institutions and KFOR, nor orchestrated collective resignations, nor threats involving MIG fighter aircraft and troops stationed near the border, nor the forward military bases of the gendarmerie and their heightened state of readiness for an attack worked. Serbia realized that it had now lost control and that the presence and capabilities of its structures within the territory of the Republic of Kosovo had been eliminated.
In this new situation, they sought once again to imitate another hybrid method employed by Russia: the annexation of territory. The paramilitary attack in Banjska on 24 September three years ago was carried out by a group of terrorists supported, financed, trained and instructed by the state of Serbia and led by Milan Radoičić. Wearing military tactical uniforms and equipped with weapons from the Serbian Army and Armed Forces, that morning they encountered a Kosovo Police patrol, whose members they attacked. By remotely detonating a mine with a cable, the Serbian terrorists killed Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku and wounded police officer Alban Rashiti.
Three years after the Banjska attack, Milan Radoičić and the other members of the paramilitary terrorist group continue to be sheltered by the President of Serbia, who provides them with protection and services. They must face justice in Kosovo and stand trial for the large-scale military-style attack organized against our state and the killing of Afrim Bunjaku. We will not stop until full justice is served.
Afrim, our hero, stood up to the terrorists behind this act of state aggression and criminal attack. He was killed while defending the state and peace. His death in the line of duty has etched him into history as a figure of the preservation of state sovereignty and territorial integrity, public order and the rule of law. Thanks to Afrim Bunjaku’s sacrifice and heroic act, the rightful path of extending sovereignty over 17% of our country’s territory was not halted. Following the neutralization of the attack by the Serbian paramilitary group, the full functioning of the state and all its institutions in the north of our country began for the first time. This was followed by many achievements and victories over these three years in the service of the rule of law and security for all citizens without distinction.
The period of illegality and criminality there came to an end. The use of the Serbian dinar was stopped; the license plates and driving licenses issued by the Serbian parallel structures were rendered invalid; 62 illegal parallel institutions were closed; the Post of Serbia and the fuel stations of the Serbian company “NIS Petrol,” known to be part of Russia’s Gazprom, were closed. Illegal roads and trails continued to be closed and the smuggling of weapons, ammunition and bags of dinars was prevented. Large quantities of weaponry were found and seized over the past three years, while, for the first time, electricity billing also began for residents of the four municipalities in northern Kosovo. A total of 844 new businesses were opened, 71 families returned to their occupied homes, and 51 families returned to homes that belonged to them but had been burned and destroyed. The Kosovo Post also opened a branch in the north, along with municipal cadastral offices, offices of the Employment Agency, the Business Registration Agency, the Agency for Agricultural Development, the Forestry Agency and the Tax Administration.
The north is also being connected with the south by road, with two new bridges for pedestrians and vehicles having been built and a third bridge under construction. The extension of sovereignty to the north and the presence and operation of state institutions there also made possible the discovery of mass graves from the last war and the uncovering of the crimes and massacres of the genocidal regime of Yugoslavia and Milošević’s Serbia. During excavations carried out at three locations in Jabukë and Kalludër in Zubin Potok, the remains of 23 of our citizens were found, belonging to the group known as the Group of Intellectuals who were abducted and executed on 19 April 1999.
Security increased and expanded, and consequently the rule of law prevails. For example, throughout the past year, there were no recorded cases of murder or aggravated robbery there. The Republic is safer than ever before, and every citizen in the north of our country lives freely, protected by the state and further removed from the influence and threats of Serbian criminal groups and the authorities in Belgrade. In each of these achievements, we find the traces and contribution of our Sergeant and Hero, Afrim Bunjaku. He is a testament to the values and importance of the Kosovo Police and of wearing its uniform. Afrim Bunjaku is an inspiration and a guiding example for every member of the Kosovo Police. He is a testament to how a public official protects the rule of law and the right of the state.
Glory to Hero Afrim Bunjaku, the martyr of the territory and inviolable sovereignty of the Republic of Kosovo!
Thank you!