Sixty cartridges of fear

The past week in Kosovo was marked by the death of two members of the Serbian police - Zvonko Jevtic from the vicinity of Novo Brdo, and Nebojsa Djordjevic from Prokuplje, and by the wounding of their colleagues in Glogovac, some forty kilometers from Pristina. This tragic event has largely aggravated the already very explosive atmosphere. Official Serbian organs have accused "Albanian terrorists" of being responsible for this serious incident, although, until now (Thursday, May 27th) none of the attackers have been caught, and representatives of Albanian parties even claim that this was "a mutual showdown between members of the police".

Both sides deeply regret because of the "disturbance of peace in Kosovo", that is, both sides took advantage of this for mutual accusations. One side brings all this in connection with the calls of the so called Albanian national front for liberation, while the other claims that "such acts, prepared by aggressive militaristic circles, are being used for terrorizing once again the Albanian population". While the Serbian side has identified the weapons that were used as "most probably of Chinese make, alluding to their Albanian origin", the Albanian side has said that, in fact, this is an attempt "to legalize, before the world, the existence of terrorist groups, that is, to justify possible actions by the current regime". Only a day before this tragedy, at a press conference, member of the federal parliament belonging to the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) who comes from Kosovo, Ranko Babic, mentioned precisely Glogovac as an environment where "peace reigns and everything functions", even though Albanians account for over 90 percent of the population". Speaker of the Serbian Assembly, Zoran Lilic has said that the clashes must not spread to Kosovo, as is the wish not only of foreign countries but also of "domestic war profiteers". It is indicative, it seems, that this statement was made right after the events in Glogovac. Many wonder whether Lilic alluded to the leader of the Serbian radicals, Vojislav Seselj, who has also been accused by the Security Council of the Serbian Renewal Movement, in regard to his statements about Kosovo, of "directing his killers and robbers towards Kosovo and Metohija, where peace still reigns".

According to the investigative organs, around 60 cartridges and two bullets that were not fired were found at the scene of the tragedy and that a smaller amount of weapons and 300,000 Deutsche marks were discovered, after a search, in a nearby house. The investigative judge at the District court in Pristina Maksimovic has said for TV Pristina, that "one can assume who had done all this". It is claimed that at least three persons took part in the action. On the other hand, the "Information center of Kosovo" - an Albanian source, has given the names of those who got the short end of the stick: those who were maltreated and arrested. According to one of its leaders, Pajazit Nushi, a delegation of the Pristina Committee for the protection of human rights and freedoms had asked the police organs there to receive it because of the events in Glogovac, so that they would see for themselves that "repression is being carried out against the Albanians in this town and the surrounding villages". However, claims Nushi, this was rejected with the explanation that there is nothing to talk about.

A representative of the CSCE mission that has been stationed in Kosovo for several months now, Benyamin Karakonoglou a Greek, pointed out in a statement to the "Voice of America" that "all the political forces in these regions, as well as opposition leaders, should show restraint in order for the situation not to escalate, which would not be good for either side. At the insistence of a number of journalists to comment on the "attacks" on police patrols, a member of the CSCE Mission, Torsten Petre said: "I would like to see what the official reports says. Rumors are one thing, but facts are another. All this looks like a devised plan, but I want to seen the report first."