Russian ” persona non grata” was putting pressure on northern Serbs

An international official, within UNMIK, with the initials P.T. 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 action.

“Antonov has long had very good relations with Serbian structures in northern Kosovo, but recently he was putting tremendous pressure on Serbian political structures in Serb-majority municipalities,” said international official P.T. within the UNMIK administration. He added that Antonov had worked as a police officer in the past.

He further continued that, “he has exerted so much pressure that the Serbs have informed Petar Petkovic dhe and Serbian President Vucic about this”.

Antonov, according to this international official in UNMIK, was also engaged in increasing the pro-Russian element in the blockades that were made in the north in September past year, when Serbs were opposing the measures of the Government of Kosovo for reciprocity with license plates.

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

The MFA of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, in a press release, said that “Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gërvalla, has declared persona non grata a Russian UNMIK official with an office in Prishtina. 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 a “persona non grata”. The first was Mikhail Krasnoshchekov, who was deported from Kosovo after trying to stop a Kosovo police operation.

Krasnoshchekov, in May 2019, with an UNMIK vehicle had tried to block the way for the Kosovo Police while they were on their duty in an action to arrest some of the Serbs who were dealing with organized crime. A chainsaw was even found in his vehicle, with which wood was cut to block the roads.

In the streets of Pristina, civil society in protest against UNMIK, had written the slogans “UNMIK RUSMIK”.