KOSOVO: A European Union police officer in Kosovo is shot dead in a northern, mainly Serb region where tensions are rising over a fragile accord between the Balkan country and its former master Serbia.

Record ID: 353930

  • Title: KOSOVO: A European Union police officer in Kosovo is shot dead in a northern, mainly Serb region where tensions are rising over a fragile accord between the Balkan country and its former master Serbia.
  • Date: 19th September 2013
  • Summary: ZVECAN , KOSOVO (SEPTEMBER 19, 2013) (REUTERS) ROAD WITH EULEX POLICE CAR EULEX POLICEMEN STANDING NEXT TO EULEX CAR EULEX INVESTIGATORS WALKING AROUND EULEX CAR EULEX INVESTIGATORS WALKING OVER THE BRIDGE EULEX CAR ON ROAD
  • Embargoed: 4th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kosovo
  • Country: Kosovo
  • Topics: Crime,European Union,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADB6JHPNRFMWE0AIAC9600T836
  • Story Text: Gunmen shot dead a European Union police officer in a mainly Serb region of Kosovo on Thursday (September 19) , dealing the mission its first fatality since deploying in 2008 and shaking a fragile accord between the Balkan country and its former master Serbia.
    The Lithuanian officer was killed in a northern region where minority ethnic Serbs are growing increasingly nervous over a deal brokered by the EU in April to integrate them with the rest of majority-Albanian Kosovo.
    The EU's law and order mission in Kosovo, known as EULEX, said the officer's vehicle "came under fire from unknown persons" at around 7.30 a.m. (0530 GMT) as he returned from a shift at a border crossing with Serbia.
    Doctors in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, where the officer was taken for treatment, said he was dead on arrival, having been shot in the chest and lower leg. A Czech officer was also in the car but was unharmed.
    "Eulex policeman was brought here in a Zvecan health centre ambulance. He showed no signs of being alive but we tried for 30 minutes to revive him but without any success. He died from firearm injuries," Milan Ivanovic, Director of Mitrovica hospital told Reuters TV.
    EULEX chief Bernd Borchardt told a news conference the officer had been ambushed.
    "Let me underline that I am shocked, very deeply shocked at the callous nature of the murder of this morning. I condemn in the strongest terms possible this act of cowardly violence against our staff members. Our EULEX staff member was a Customs Officer from Lithuania dedicated to ensuring stability of Kosovo and contributing to the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo," he said.
    Borchardt said an investigation was underway.
    "There is a mixed investigation ongoing, mixed it means Kosovo Police and EULEX police. I also very much appreciate further offers of assistance from police colleagues and from the political side in Belgrade, and I can assure you that no effort will be spared in bringing the perpetrators to justice," he said.
    Serbia rejected the secession and retained de facto control over a northern strip of Kosovo where some 50,000 Serbs live. Ninety percent of Kosovo's 1.7 million people are Albanians.
    Seeking the economic boost of membership talks with the EU, Serbia - which does not recognise Kosovo as independent - agreed in April to cede its hold over the north and for the Serbs living there to be integrated with the rest of Kosovo.
    As part of the accord, the north is due to take part in Kosovo's next local elections on November 3, but hardline Serb leaders there say they will boycott the vote.
    The 28-member EU, of which 23 members recognise Kosovo as independent, plans to open accession talks with Serbia in January, providing there is progress on the ground in implementation of the April deal.
    EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she condemned the killing "in the strongest possible terms" and urged all sides to press ahead with the accord.
    "I appeal to all parties to redouble their efforts to implement the agreements reached, to normalize relations and to improve the lives of the people on the ground in northern Kosovo," Ashton said in a statement.
    Kosovo has been recognised by around 100 countries, including the United States, but Serbian ally Russia - a veto-holder in the U.N. Security Council - is blocking its membership of the United Nations.
    With 2,250 staff, including police officers, judges and prosecutors, EULEX is the largest civilian mission ever deployed by the EU.
    It has an annual budget of 111 million euros ($148 million) but has come in for criticism, particularly from Germany, over its effectiveness in stamping out organised crime and quelling violence in the north, where it is backed by some 6,000 NATO peacekeepers.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register