Head of Kosovo Office, Marko Djuric. Photo: Media Centre Belgrade

Kosovo Police confirmed to BIRN on Monday that Marko Djuric, head of the Serbian government’s Kosovo office, had been arrested on Monday for illegal entry and transferred to Pristina by the Specialized Operational Unit of Kosovo Police.

Kosovo Special Police intervened following reports that Djuric was participating in a debate in the divided northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica.

Kosovo deployed its special police units in the Serb-run far north earlier during the day, after the government banned both Djuric and Serbia’s Defence Minister, Aleksandar Vulin, from entering the country.

Earlier during the day, Kosovo Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli warned that the Serbian officials would be arrested if they tried to enter Kosovo.

“Neither Djuric nor Vulin have permission to enter Kosovo today. Anyone who enters illegally in Kosovo will be arrested,” Pacolli wrote on Facebook.

“Djuric’s entry into Kosovo is in violation of the law, constitutional order and the Brussels agreement,” Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj said.

“Such actions are highly dangerous and are intended to destabilize Kosovo. Kosovo will take all the necessary measures to maintain a peaceful situation within our territory,” he added.



Nikola Selakovic, Secretary of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, called Djuric’s arrest a “scandalous act by the Pristina authorities.”

“It is scandalous because it was terror of armless people, the arresting of hones of people who did not provide resistance, had no weapons and didn’t pose a threat to anyone,” Selakovic said at a press conference in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica after the arrest.



EU spokesperson Maja Kocijancic told BIRN that the EU calls on Kosovo and Serbia authorities to show restraint so that the current situation in Kosovo does not escalate any further.

“All issues of mutual concern need to be addressed within the framework of the EU-facilitated Dialogue, which as an ultimate goal aims at a normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia,” she said.

She added that the EU “deplores today’s events in Kosovo, which run counter to normalisation of relations”.

“We expect both Serbia – in accession negotiations with the EU – and Kosovo – having a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU in place – to respect fully, in letter and spirit, agreements reached between them in the Dialogue”.

This article was updated with the statement of Maja Kocijancic.

