Islami: Kosovo is becoming the main electoral card in Serbia

Security expert Avni Islami has commented on the arrest of two people in Serbia, suspected of spying for the intelligence services of Albania and Kosovo, linking the case to political developments in Serbia, as Telegrafi reports.

Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA) announced on September 29 the arrest of D.C., 46, from Shillova near Gjilan, in Vranje, and N.P., 50, from Jagodina. The Serbian authorities claim that they passed on data about active BIA members to the intelligence services of Albania, the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI) and the Kosovo Police Intelligence Unit.

In a post on Facebook, Islami stated that Kosovo is being used ever more in political discourse in Serbia. “The closer the elections in Serbia get, the more Kosovo is turning into the main electoral card not only for Vucic’s government, but also for the opposition and the student organisations in Belgrade,” Islami wrote.

According to him, the use of Kosovo as an instrument for electoral campaigns in Serbia has now also drawn in the security apparatus. “The use of Kosovo as an instrument for electoral campaigns in Serbia has taken on new dimensions, this time including the security apparatus as well,” he said.

Islami described the arrest of the two people as an attempt by the BIA to recover, in his view, the reputation of that institution in the face of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency. “The arrest of two citizens of the Serb community in Vranje and Jagodina on suspicion of espionage is being seen as a desperate attempt by Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA) to recover its lost reputation in the face of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI),” the security expert wrote.

He claimed that during the past year and throughout this year the BIA has had “successive operational failures” in relation to the AKI in Kosovo. “Sources within the security sector indicate that the BIA has lost a number of its collaborators and agents on the territory of Kosovo, who were successfully discovered and neutralised by the Kosovar intelligence service. This has created a deep credibility crisis for the security structures in Belgrade,” Islami declared.

Referring to the latest case, he said that the arrest of the two Serb citizens is intended, in his assessment, to create an “artificial balance” and to present a success before the Serbian political leadership. “According to media in Serbia, which cite the Tanjug agency, they allegedly collected and handed over data on active BIA members to the intelligence structures of Kosovo and Albania,” he wrote.

Islami also singled out the fact that one of those arrested is from Shillova near Gjilan, saying that the extension of the operation to Vranje gives the case, in his view, a dangerous security dimension in the Serbia-Kosovo border belt. “The fact that one of those arrested originates from Shillova near Gjilan and that the operation extended to Vranje confirms that Belgrade is trying to give the case a dangerous security dimension in the Serbia-Kosovo border belt,” Islami declared.

Finally, he said that the BIA’s action should be seen in the context of the alleged confrontation between the two intelligence services. “This latest action shows that, faced with the AKI’s professionalism, official Belgrade has been left with no weapon other than media stagings for domestic political consumption,” Islami wrote.