Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic said today that the intervention of KFOR and the use of tear gas today was a wrong step which aggravates tensions and creates an atmosphere of uncertainty.

In a statement to the Tanjug news agency Bogdanovic called on KFOR to refrain from using force and remain within the status-neutral framework of its mandate, and also called on the Serbs in northern Kosovo not to fall for provocations and to fight for their interests by peaceful means instead.

The Minister pointed out that no one is against controlling traffic and passengers, but that the way in which it is done causes new tensions and new problems.

The way out and solution for the situation with administrative crossings Jarinje and Brnjak can and must be found only through dialogue, Bogdanovic said and reiterated that a sustainable solution cannot be imposed by force.

There is no alternative to dialogue in this, or any other situation, the Minister underlined and reiterated that problems in the north of Kosovo can be solved only through dialogue.

Bogdanovic: EULEX, not KPS, to investigate incident

Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic urged Wednesday evening members of EULEX to take over the investigation into the attack on three Serbs in the Brdjani settlement.

He added the investigation should be carried out by EULEX rather than the Kosovo Police Service (KPS), and that the motives of this, as he put it, terrorist act should be revealed as soon as possible.

Bogdanovic told Tanjug that it is very important to carry out an efficient probe and to arrest the perpetrators given that wounding of three Serbs has raised tensions, which were already high for months in north Kosovo.

Stressing that the attack deserves most severe criticism and that it is yet another among the incidents in the last few months, Bogdanovic urged Serbs not to react to provocations by Albanian extremists, and called on KFOR and EULEX to focus on neuralgic points in the north, where there is a constant threat of inter-ethnic conflicts, rather than on the administrative crossings.

“The attack shows that the Albanian extremists are using every opportunity to use violence against Serbs, and that years of lack of punishment have resulted in an increase of their violent acts,” Bogdanovic said.

The minister called on the international presence in the province to take all necessary measures to secure basic human rights of people in the north of the province, such as the right to personal and property security.