Kosovo Govt: “Civil Defense,” “Northern Brigade” terrorist organizations

The Kosovo Government adopted several decisions at its session held Thursday in Pristina, including the one on “Civil Defense” and “Northern Brigade,” reported KoSSev.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that, based on the assessments of Kosovo security institutions, these two organizations “present a serious and direct threat to the security and constitutional order of Kosovo.”

Kosovo Internal Affairs Minister Xhelal Svecla, who attended the session, said the security institutions are working on identifying and responding to “threats against Kosovo’s security and constitutional order,” reported Koha.

He stressed that terrorism and violent extremism are “one of the main concerns.”

"Within their mandates, the relevant institutions have identified several terrorist groups that are carrying out direct terrorist actions against Kosovo. These groups have been tolerated over the years. For more than two years, our legal decisions have been challenged with barricades, armed attacks on members of the Police, attacks on state facilities, attacks on political opponents, attacks on journalists and the like. The Interior Ministry is working on identifying these persons who have committed criminal acts,” Koha quoted Svecla as saying.

He stressed that “bringing these groups to justice will ensure peace and security for the groups that have been threatened so far,” adding that the decision does not apply to the members of these organizations who were “amnestied” earlier.

The proposal was opposed by the Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic who asked Svecla to reconsider it so as to avoid passing “hasty decisions.”

Rasic was the only one who voted against the proposal, reported Koha.