Serbia denies presence of its police forces in Kosovo
Serbia firmly rejected claims by UN officials in Kosovo who blamed Belgrade for dispatching its policemen throughout the province, continuing the exchange of harsh words between Serbia and two top UNMIK officials, Joachim Ruecker and Larry Rossin.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, April 07, 2008
Ruecker said that Serbian police operates in Kosovo, but denies this was UNMIK's fault. "The truth is that there are parallel security structures," he said.
Serbian Minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic described UNMIK chief's latest accusations as biased and based on rumors rather that firm evidence, putting an end to the month-long dispute over the alleged involvement of Serbian police in recent violence.
"Without clear evidence it is not worth debating this," Samardzic said. "There was speculation that during the demonstrations of judges in the Kosovska Mitrovica court there were Serbian Ministry of Interior officers in the building."
UNMIK and Pristina media accused Belgrade recently of setting up a network of so-called parallel institutions, including some 161 offices linked with various Serbian ministries - of interior, justice, health and education.
UNMIK's "dossier" on Serbia's attempt to destabilize Kosovo institutions leaked miraculously to Pristina media, but the investigation that followed showed most of those accusations were false and based on rumors.
Prior to the latest statement by UNMIK's chief, deputy police commissioner Jim Lias and the representative of Kosovo Police Service Reshat Maliqi also denied that Serbian police was active in Kosovo.
