Brussels, December 4, 2024
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, met at the building of the Embassy of Kosovo in Belgium with the Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, James C. O’Brien.
The topic of discussion was the bilateral relations and current developments of mutual interest, with an emphasis on the November 29 terrorist attack on the critical infrastructure of the Republic of Kosovo. The Prime Minister shared with Mr. O’Brien the details of the recent terrorist attack on critical infrastructure, specifically on the Ibër-Lepenc canal, as well as the response of state institutions to mitigate the damage and ensure the provision of essential services. The attack on November 29 was an assault on the civilian population, as it threatened to leave more than half of the country’s population without electricity and water, the Prime Minister stated.
While investigations into the recent attack are ongoing, the Prime Minister emphasized that among the confiscations made in connection with the case, alongside weapons and ammunition, 74 military emblems have also been found, of which 20 belong to various Russian military units, in addition to the Serbian ones.
The attack on Friday, November 29th, was the third attack in three days targeting the country’s institutions. Initially, the targets were the Police Station in Zvečan and the building of the Zvečan Municipal Assembly. Furthermore, it constitutes the second large-scale attack on national security, following the paramilitary attack on September 24, 2023, in Banjska, which aimed at annexing the northern part of the country and resulted in the death of a Kosovo Police sergeant, and the largest and most serious attack on critical infrastructure, which aimed at disrupting or complicating essential services such as electricity, water, and telecommunications, and disrupting social, civil, economic life, and institutions.
During this meeting, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of arresting and extraditing the chief criminal and chief terrorist Millan Radoiçiq, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office already has a 160-page indictment against him and his group, and who continues to pose a threat to the security of the country and the region as long as he roams free in Serbia and has the support of President Aleksandar Vučić and the state apparatus there.
Prime Minister Kurti expressed gratitude to Assistant Secretary O’Brien and the United States of America for their support to the Republic of Kosovo in investigating the attack on the Ibër Lepenc canal and bringing those responsible to justice.
Last modified: December 9, 2024