Three years have passed since the armed attack in Banjska in northern Kosovo, in which a Kosovo police officer and three Kosovo Serbs were killed, while Serbia has yet to prosecute those responsible for the attack.
The attack took place in the early hours of 24 September 2023, after a group of armed Kosovo Serbs blocked a road in the village of Banjska with trucks. When Kosovo police arrived at the scene, gunfire broke out, killing police officer Afrim Bunjaku.
Members of the armed group later withdrew to the Banjska Monastery, where they were surrounded by Kosovo police. A hours-long exchange of fire followed, during which three members of the armed group – Stefan Nedeljković, Igor Milenković and Bojan Mijailović – were killed.
Milan Radoičić, then vice-president of the Serb List, claimed responsibility for organising the armed group several days after the attack and resigned from his political positions.
Radoičić was arrested in Serbia in October 2023 and questioned by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade on suspicion of several criminal offences related to the events in Banjska. He was subsequently released and banned from leaving Serbia.
Three years after the attack, however, proceedings in Serbia have not resulted in a trial of Radoičić or other alleged participants in the attack.
The European Union has repeatedly called on Serbia to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. The EU has also expressed regret over what it described as Serbia’s failure to take sufficient steps to prosecute those responsible for the 2023 attack.
The European Parliament has also called on Serbia to bring those responsible to justice. In its 2025 Resolution on Serbia, it deplores the fact that Serbia had still not prosecuted those responsible, specifically mentioning Radojičić.
Proceedings have meanwhile taken place in Kosovo. In April 2026, the Basic Court in Pristina found three of the 42 people indicted in connection with the Banjska attack guilty. Blagoje Spasojević and Vladimir Tolić were sentenced to life imprisonment, while Dušan Maksimović received a 30-year prison sentence.
The attack in Banjska significantly heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo and prompted strong reactions from the EU and other international partners.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić blamed Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for creating the circumstances that led to the incident, saying that Kosovo Serbs had reacted to pressure from the authorities in Pristina. Serbian officials have rejected accusations that the state was behind the attack.
Marking the third anniversary of the attack, the British Embassy in Kosovo once again called on the Serbian authorities to take action, stressing that those responsible, including Radojić, had still not been brought to justice.
