EU: By arresting Kosovo citizens, Serbia is violating 2015 agreement

The European Union said Serbia's recent arrest of a Kosovo Liberation Army veteran is "another violation" of Serbia's obligations under the 2015 Dialogue and Justice Agreement.

“Under this agreement, Serbia has committed not to initiate criminal investigations or prosecutions for crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo, unless requested to do so by the Kosovo authorities. Jurisdiction over allegations of war crimes and other serious offences falls on the Kosovo institutions. We call on Serbia to respect its commitments,” a European Commission spokesperson told Radio Free Europe.

On February 5, Serbian authorities arrested Mitehat Llozhani as he entered the Serbian terror group from the Croatian border. According to authorities, he is suspected in Belgrade of crimes against the civilian population.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora has requested the engagement of the international community regarding this case.

According to Serbia, the arrested man is suspected of having trained as a member of the KLA of the Dukagjini Operational Zone in 1998 and 1999 “after which he participated in terrorist attacks against members of the Serbian MUP and the Yugoslav army”. The statement also states that “as a member of the group commanded by Ramush Haradinaj, he participated in the kidnapping and massacre of police officers”.

However, the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans Organization told Radio Free Europe that the arrested man has participated in several training exercises in Albania, but there is no information that he has been on the front lines in Kosovo.

The vice president of this veterans' organization, Gazmend Syla, told Radio Free Europe that Llozhani's veteran's card was found in his pocket during a search by Serbian authorities.

Serbia has repeatedly arrested Kosovo citizens on charges of war crimes in Kosovo in 1998-99, and only in 2025 were several such arrests recorded.

Serbia during the 90s characterized the KLA as a terrorist organization, while for Kosovo, the KLA is the organization that protected the local population from the repression of the Yugoslav armed forces.

Cases of those arrested in Serbia, according to sources in the MFA

Arbnor Spahiu – arrested in June on suspicion of “aggravated murder” in Banjska; released on November 21.

Lulzim Halili – arrested in July, accused of “war crimes”; remains in custody.

Sasha Djordjevic – arrested in July, under suspicion of “collaboration with the Albanian State Intelligence Service (SHISH), through the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA)”; remains in custody.

Behar Preniqi – arrested in August, as a “suspected member of the KLA”; remains in detention.

Hazir Haziri – arrested in September on suspicion of “war crimes”; released in January 2026.

Avni Qenaj – arrested in November for “war crimes”; court in Belgrade gave him one month in detention.

Milan Vukashinovic He is suspected of being kidnapped by Serbian gendarmerie in Leposaviq – northern Kosovo – on November 1.

On August 14, Serbian authorities announced that they had detained two more people with the initials XE and BE (Xhemajl and Bashkim Emini) at the Serbian-Hungarian border crossing point of Horgoš, on suspicion that as members of the KLA, they had “committed war crimes against the civilian population.” Five days later, they were released.