On the third anniversary of the attack in Banjska, the European Union (EU) called for those responsible to face legal consequences and expressed regret that Serbia has still not taken the necessary steps to arrest and prosecute those who are in Serbia.
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas raised the issue during a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“We expect Serbia to fully cooperate through the established channel for mutual legal assistance. This issue has been open for a long time and Serbia needs to take further steps without delay,” the European Commission spokesperson said in a written statement provided to the media.
The North Atlantic Alliance said that, in every contact with Serbian officials, it had stressed the need to establish accountability for the Banjska attack, as well as for the violence that took place in northern Kosovo in the spring of 2023. “We have been very clear in our discussions with our Serbian partners that attacks on KFOR peacekeepers, as well as the further violence that took place in Kosovo in 2023, are unacceptable. We continue to call for those responsible to be held accountable,” a NATO official said.
Describing Serbia as a very important country in the context of regional stability, the official stressed that NATO expects its partnership with Serbia to be, as he put it, “two-way”. “We expect Serbia to engage constructively with NATO and its neighbours. In that regard, the NATO Secretary General remains in contact with President Vučić,” the official said in a written statement.
The Banjska attack took place on 24 September 2023. During the attack, Afrim Bunjaku, a member of the Kosovo Police, and three Serbian attackers were killed. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Milan Radoičić, former deputy leader of Srpska Lista, the largest Kosovo Serb party, which has the backing of Belgrade. Kosovo regards the attack as an act of terrorism and accuses Serbia of being involved. Belgrade, however, denies any involvement in the attack.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, also met Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in New York, who confirmed that he had discussed the Banjska attack with her.
On 24 April this year, the Basic Court in Pristina handed down a first-instance verdict against three of those accused of the Banjska attack. A total of 45 people were named in the indictment, while the prosecution requested that the majority of them be tried in absentia.
No indictment has yet been filed in Serbia, despite calls from the EU, the United States and NATO, as well as promises by the Serbian president that those responsible would be prosecuted.
Milan Radoičić, whom Kosovo’s prosecution service claims organised the attack, is in Belgrade and is required to report to the police twice a month. His name appears in an indictment for war crimes in Đakovica filed by Kosovo’s Special Prosecution Office in August this year.
The group of 20 people is accused of involvement in the killing of 107 civilians, and the Special Prosecution Office has requested that the trial be held in absentia.
(Radio Free Europe, 25.09.2026)
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/eu-banjska-napad-odgovornost-srbija/33863571.html