Kosovo Summons North Serbs as Suspects Over Banjska

Kosovo’s Special Prosecution issued summonses on Thursday, September 24, to a group of current and former representatives of Serbs from the north of the province, calling them to appear for questioning as suspects. The summonses arrived exactly on the third anniversary of the armed clash in Banjska, in which Kosovo police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed in 2023, followed by the deaths of three Serbs in the confrontation with police that followed. The news was first reported by the portal KoSSev, citing several independent sources.

According to available information, those summoned include at least one sitting Serbian List lawmaker in the Pristina assembly, two sitting mayors of municipalities in northern Kosovo, and two former heads of district administration within the Serbian system of governance, one of whom previously also served as mayor within the Kosovo system. At least two more Serbs were summoned, whose names have not yet been made public.

It is not known what criminal offense each of the summoned individuals is charged with, nor whether they are all charged with the same offense. Kosovo police declined to confirm or comment on the details, and Serbian List representatives did not respond to questions about how many of their current and former officials received summonses, which events they relate to, or how the party assesses the Special Prosecution’s actions.

Three possible versions of events

Unofficial accounts point to three different events the latest summonses might concern. The first is the blockade of the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings in September 2021, which Serbs set up with trucks after the Kosovo government introduced a reciprocity measure for vehicle license plates from Serbia. The crisis lasted nearly two weeks at the time and was resolved through an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, brokered by the European Union, with the simultaneous withdrawal of barricades and special police units starting October 2.

The second possibility is the road blockades of October 13, 2021, when Kosovo police carried out an anti-smuggling operation in North Mitrovica and Zvecan, during which, according to a police statement issued at the time, shock grenades and firearms were used against police and customs officers.

The third version points to May 29, 2023, and the clash between a group of Serbs and KFOR members in front of the Zvecan municipal building, which occurred after newly elected Albanian mayors, assisted by Kosovo police, entered municipal buildings in the north. A large number of KFOR members and protest participants were injured in that clash, and the Special Prosecution has previously filed indictments against several participants, mostly for assaulting an official, participating in a group committing a criminal act, and hooliganism.

Continuation of earlier proceedings

The latest summonses are not the Special Prosecution’s first move against Serb representatives from the north. Back in 2022, over suspected violations of Kosovo’s constitutional order, summonses were issued to then Serbian List president Goran Rakic, deputy chairman Igor Simic and presidency member Slavko Simic, who, according to a statement from the party at the time, refused to accept them. In June 2026, the Special Prosecution filed an indictment against six Serbs over the barricades from December 2022.

That is also a separate case currently pending against the Serbian List. In August, five officials of the party received summonses on entirely different grounds, over alleged document forgery. That proceeding has no connection to the summonses issued on September 24.

As of this writing, there had been no official confirmation from the Special Prosecution as to which of the three events described is the subject of the new summonses, nor when those summoned are expected to appear for questioning in Pristina.