Incident in Spa happened on September 24, 2023, when a paramilitary formation made up of Serbs killed a member of the Kosovo Police, wounded two, and three attackers were killed in the exchange of fire.
The Diocese of Raško-Prizren announced at the time that a group of armed, masked people broke into the monastery in an armored vehicle and broke through the locked monastery gate.
Pristina officials immediately blamed the attack on "Serbian criminal groups" allegedly supported by Belgrade, while Belgrade denied any connection to the attack.
On September 28, the Assembly of Kosovo adopted a resolution condemning the attack on the Kosovo Police and assessed the need for an international investigation of Serbia and its role in that attack.
Radoičić identified in the videos
The former vice-president of the Serbian List, Milan Radoičić, was identified in the footage taken by the Kosovo security forces with a drone.
His lawyer Goran Petronijević announced at the end of September 2023 that Radoičić took responsibility for the organization and attack. Four days later, Radoičić was taken into custody and questioned at the High Public Prosecutor's Office, where he denied any connection with the attack. Radoičić was released from custody less than 24 hours after his arrest.
Previously, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić of "directly ordering" the attack on the north of Kosovo and called for the introduction of "harsh sanctions" against Belgrade, "so that Serbia would not be encouraged to use violence, not only against Kosovo, but also against other country in the region".
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, stated on October 11, 2023 that Radoičić will answer to the authorities in Serbia and that the indictment is yet to be filed.
"I would not like to defend Radoičić, because he is responsible before our judicial authorities and he is yet to be indicted." When the investigation is carried out, whether there will be an expansion of the investigation or not, it is up to the competent state authorities. They will establish all these facts," said Vučić at the time.
Weapons originating from Serbia
The Balkan Regional Research Network (BIRN) then announced that the ammunition used by members of the armed group during the conflict was produced at the Serbian Belom factory in 2022, and that the mortar mines and mortars were overhauled at state institutes in 2018 and 2021.
The weapons seized by the Kosovo police after the conflict in Banjska passed through the Serbian state system at some point in the previous five years, BIRN said.
The European Union and the European Parliament classified the incident as a terrorist attack, and the build-up of Serbian military forces along the administrative line with Kosovo has caused widespread concern in the region.
In mid-October 2023, the members of the European Parliament adopted the "Resolution of the European Parliament on recent developments in the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue", which strongly condemns the attack. They asked the European Commission and the European Council, among other things, to take measures against Serbia if it was determined that it was directly involved in those events.
On December 7, 2023, Interpol issued a warrant for Radoicic based on the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, and through the civilian mission of the United Nations, because Kosovo is not a member of Interpol.
In March 2024, the spokesperson of the European Union (EU) Peter Stano assessed that the attack in Banjska was a "very brutal attack on the territory of Kosovo" and stressed that Brussels cannot make decisions or present positions until the investigation led by the Kosovo authorities is completed.
Kosovo authorities' indictment
At the end of June 2024, the Kosovo Police announced that 48 people who participated in the armed incident in Banjska had been identified and that criminal charges had been filed against 45 people.
It was stated that arrest warrants were issued for 41 suspects in Kosovo and that 39 international arrest warrants were issued.
Criminal charges were filed for the crimes of "aggravated murder, attack on the constitutional order of Kosovo, serious acts against the constitutional order and security of Kosovo, committing a terrorist act, preparing a terrorist act, money laundering and financing terrorism."
On September 11, the Special Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo filed an indictment against 45 persons, including Milan Radoičić.
The chief public prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, pointed out that from the point of view of the legal order of Serbia, the indictment of the Special Prosecutor's Office in Pristina against Milan Radoičić and others has no significance.
Stefanović reminded that the territorial integrity of Serbia as part of Kosovo is guaranteed by Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council and pointed out that the institutions in Pristina do not have any authority to conduct any proceedings, not even criminal ones.
Vučić was asked about the indictment that was filed in Kosovo against Milan Radoičić and 44 other people for the armed attack in Banjska, he said that the Serbian authorities are conducting their investigation.
He added that the requested information was not provided to Belgrade from Eulex and pointed out that for Serbia the Banjska case "is not terrorism in any way".
Meanwhile, at the end of August, the Kosovo authorities closed five remaining parallel Serbian institutions in the north of Kosovo.
Boards with the marks of various institutions of the "Republic of Kosovo" are placed on them, and thus Serbia practically lost jurisdiction over all institutions in Kosovo.
