UNMIK's "non grata" Russia was putting pressure on the Serbs of the north

An international official within UNMIK, with the initials PT, has announced that the Russian UNMIK official, Andrey Nikolaevich Antonov, who was declared "persona non grata" by the Republic of Kosovo, was in charge of work at the UNMIK branch in North Mitrovica and was exerting pressure on Serbian political structures to take radical actions.

"Since Antonov has very good relations with the Serbian structures in the north of Kosovo, but lately he has been exerting extraordinary pressure on the Serbian political structures in the municipalities with a Serbian majority", said the PT international official within the UNMIK administration. . He added that Antonov worked as a police officer in the past.

He further continued that, "he exerted such great pressure that the Serbs even notified Petar Petkovic and Serbian President Vučić about this."

Antonov, according to this international official at UNMIK, was also engaged in amplifying the pro-Russian element in the blockades that were carried out in the north in September of last year, when Serbs were opposing the Kosovo Government's measures for reciprocity with license plates.

"Antonov had a contract with UNMIK until June 2022, and UNMIK has twice received warnings about his actions in Mitrovica", said the international official.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, in an announcement to the public, said that "Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gërvalla, has declared a Russian UNMIK official with an office in Pristina as a non-female person. Kosovo stands with its allies to act against harmful actions that endanger Kosovo's national security and constitutional order".

Andrey Nikolaevich Antonov is the second Russian UNMIK official to be declared "persona non grata". The first was Mikhail Krasnoshchekov, who after trying to stop a Kosovo police action, was expelled from Kosovo.

Krasnoshchekov, in May 2019, with an UNMIK vehicle, had tried to block the way of the Kosovo Police while they were enforcing the law in an action to arrest some of the Serbs who were dealing with organized crime. In fact, a chainsaw was found in his vehicle, which was used to cut trees to block the roads.

In the streets of Pristina, the civil society, in protest against UNMIK, wrote the slogans "UNMIK RUSMIK".