The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, reacted after the withdrawal of 25% of the police forces around the municipalities in the north. In a reaction on Facebook, Kurti writes that the situation is calmer and 'there have been incidents, for this reason they could remove some of the effectives. However, he emphasizes that there will not be a complete and immediate removal of the policemen.
" From today, the reduction of the presence of the Kosovo police in the three municipal buildings in the north of our country began by another 25%. This comes after the assessment of the security situation from the meeting held yesterday by Kosovo Police leaders with EULEX and KFOR. So the security is good, the situation is calm, and we can reduce our police presence a bit. The rule of law and public order are being maintained better and better. It has been about a month and a half that we have had no significant incidents or violent protests. We thank the police and citizens without distinction for cooperation and correctness.
As we said more than two months ago: 1) there will be no immediate or immediate reduction of the police presence, but only gradual and proportional; 2) the reduction applies to the police presence in municipal buildings and their surroundings, and not to the north of the country, where there is still a challenge and work for full rule of law.
We are implementing with responsibility and seriousness, sincerity and care, the Bratislava agreement from July 10, 2023 in view of the EU's demands from June 3, 2023 for de-escalation. The joint finding with international factors about the significant improvement in the level of peace and security in the north testifies to a clear de-escalation. At the same time, we are alert to the potential re-escalation that could come from hateful statements and political and state aggressiveness of our northern neighbor.
We invite citizens not to fall prey to various misinformation, from those that are the result of misunderstanding, misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the situation and developments to those that are anti-government wishes publicly broadcast as factual news. The hybrid war against the independent Republic of Kosovo and its democratic and progressive government will fail ," Kurti said.