European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo

GRACANICA - The so-called Kosovo Police on Thursday raided the building of the Gracanica municipality, which operates within the system of the provisional Pristina institutions, and arrested two people on suspicion of office abuse and corruption.

The entrance to the building was not blocked during the raid and armed police troops could be seen outside.

BELGRADE - KFOR and the so-called Kosovo Police have provided no response to a Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) query about a recent death threat to Tanjug journalists, while the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo-Metohija (EULEX) said it had no mandate to investigate it and UNMIK - the UN mission in Serbia's autonomous province - informed the UN special rapporteur for freedom of opinion

BELGRADE - The threats emailed to the Tanjug News Agency earlier this week were sent from the territory of Serbia's Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija, the Serbian Prosecutor's Office for High-Technology Crime has told Tanjug.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - A Srpska lista delegation headed by the organisation's President Zlatan Elek met with Eulex chief Maj Gen Giovanni Pietro Barbano in Kosovska Mitrovica on Monday to discuss the political and security situation in Kosovo-Metohija.

The team was deployed to strengthen the advisory and monitoring capacities of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in the province, EULEX announced today.

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Monday the key question to Eulex was why it had taken no part in the investigation following the September 24 incident in Banjska.

BELGRADE, Sept 28 (Tanjug) - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Thursday the Eulex mission had not been allowed to take part in an investigation following last weekend's clashes in Banjska in the north of Kosovo-Metohija because Pristina wanted to hide that the Serbs killed in the clashes had been brutally murdered.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Srpska lista leader Goran Rakic said on Tuesday he had met with the new head of the Eulex mission Giovanni Pietro Barbano to discuss a withdrawal of special units from the north of Kosovo-Metohija and greater presence of Eulex and Kfor patrols.

The EU's special envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajak, welcomed the decision to reduce the number of members of the so-called Kosovo Police in the north of Kosovo.
This decision was made at a meeting of representatives of the so-called Kosovo Police, EULEX and KFOR.

In its response to Koha, EULEX stated that the decision of the government in Pristina "is not agreed with EULEX".
Yesterday, the European Union assessed that this step, apart from not being coordinated with Brussels, does not contribute to the de-escalation of the situation in the north of Kosovo.