Official Brussels has expressed its willingness to help communication between Kosovo and Serbia, for issues related to the disclosure of the terrorist attack in the Ibër-Lepenci canal. EU officials asked all parties, including Serbia, to cooperate with the Kosovo authorities on this occasion.
The European Union has asked all parties, including Serbia, to offer cooperation to Kosovo, in order to clarify the attack with explosives in Ibër Lepenc. Since the two countries do not have formal cooperation, EU officials have expressed readiness to facilitate communication, based on an agreement a decade ago.
“The EU calls on all interested parties to cooperate fully with the Kosovo authorities and we will continue to follow developments closely. In this respect, we note that Serbia has expressed support regarding the development of investigations. We call on both parties to make use of the 2013 Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance, through which the Office of the High Representative of the EU (OHR) in Kosovo facilitates the transmission of requests for mutual legal assistance between Kosovo and Serbia”, said Anitta Hipper, spokeswoman for the European Union.
In EULEX, they expressed their willingness to facilitate the communication that falls in the domain of the relevant ministries of the interior.
“As for the issue of international cooperation, according to the current EULEX mandate, the Mission supports the Kosovo Police only in the field of international police cooperation, facilitating the exchange of information between the Kosovo Police and INTERPOL, EUROPOL or the Ministry of Interior of Serbia. Furthermore, any possible exchange of police information, facilitated through EULEX, is covered by the principle of confidentiality”, reads the EULEX response.
Officials of the Government of Kosovo, who accused Serbia of being behind the organization of the attack, have not answered whether they will consider exchanging information with the Serbian side for the arrest of the suspects.
And the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who also raised doubts that the attack may have been organized by the Government of Kosovo, said that Belgrade is ready for cooperation.
EU officials called on the parties to refrain from escalating statements.
“In this extremely volatile environment, we call on Serbia and Kosovo to avoid escalating statements and refrain from any steps that would worsen the situation on the ground. The European Union condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack carried out on Friday in the water channel of Ibër-Lepenci in Zubin-Potok in the north of Kosovo. It is a disgusting act of sabotage in the critical civil infrastructure of Kosovo”, said Hipper.
The European Union has recorded a history of refusals between Kosovo and Serbia in providing mutual information. The last ones are those for disclosing the terrorist attack of September 24 in Banjské i Zveçan.
