It's a clash between Belgrade and
Pristina over responsibility for the powerful explosion that
severely damaged a major aqueduct in northern Kosovo late
yesterday evening, causing disruptions and disruption in water
and power supply, with severe inconvenience to local
populations. The Kosovo premier, Albin Kurti, late in the
evening accused Serbia of deliberately provoking the explosion
with "a terrorist and criminal attack aimed at damaging our
critical infrastructure." Denials and counter-accusations
against Pristina came promptly this morning from Belgrade.
According to Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, the fact
that PM Kurti was quick to point the finger at Serbia, without
having any concrete facts, proves the involvement of his
'regime' in the attack. Djuric then appealed to the
international institutions present in Kosovo, primarily KFOR and
Eulex, to conduct independent investigations to shed full light.
Statements of a similar tenor came from Petar Petkovic, head of
the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo, who spoke of an attack
directed against the peace to which Belgrade has always been
committed. An attack, he noted, that "is absolutely not in the
interest of the local Serbian people and Belgrade." Northern
Kosovo is predominantly inhabited by Serbs. Since the early
hours of this morning Kosovo police have been conducting checks
and searches in homes of Serb families in the Zubin Potok area,
where the incident took place, and, according to unconfirmed
reports, there have already been arrests. Also this morning, the
Kosovo Security Council met in Pristina, reiterating charges
against Serbia, "which has the capacity for such a criminal and
terrorist attack." Measures were taken to tighten security
around bridges, viaducts and other infrastructure, and at the
same time a possible link was evoked to Russia's attacks on
Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which left hundreds of
thousands of families without electricity and heating. According
to Kosovar Interior Minister Xehlal Svecla, at least 15
kilograms of explosives were used in the aqueduct attack.
Condemnations of the attack came from the embassies of the U.S.,
United Kingdomb and the EU representation. Also reacting was the
Italian Embassy in Pristina, which, in a message posted on X,
"strongly condemned" the attack on the aqueduct: "We stand by
Kosovo in its investigative efforts to identify those
responsible."
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