Albanian timber thieves "active every day" in Kursumlija

Ethnic Albanian timber thieves from Podujevo, in Kosovo and Metohija, are crossing into the Kursumlija municipality, in central Serbia, "on a daily basis."

Kursumlija's local prokupljenadlanu.rs website reported this, adding that the incursions lately most often target the village of Dobri Do, on the slopes of Mt. Radan.

In the last two weeks, (Serbian) police patrols reacted "as many as three times" to seize tractors and chainsaws - while the suspects themselves have been allowed to walk free, "with minor fines."

"In the area of the village of Dobri Do, literally each night Albanians from the Podujevo municipality storm in and steal timber. They say they are helping us - because these days, we are carrying out legal felling in the region," Director of the Kursumlija Forest Management Directorate Nebojsa Mihovilovic has been quoted as saying.

As this area is...