A coal-fired power plant in Kosovo. Photo: Armend NIMANI / AFP / Profimedia
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, condemned on Saturday as an “act of sabotage” and “terrorist” Friday’s attack in Kosovo on a vital water supply channel, reports AFP and Agerpres .
“This is an act of sabotage against the essential civil infrastructure in Kosovo, which provides drinking water to a considerable part of the population,” Borrell wrote in a statement, in which he also assured that the EU condemn this in the strongest terms. terrorist attack”.
The head of European diplomacy also emphasized that he conveyed the support and solidarity of the 27 EU member states to the Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
Kosovo accused Serbia
Friday’s explosion has heightened tensions between Serbia and ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after a guerrilla uprising against the government in Belgrade. Serbia does not recognize the independence of Kosovo.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of being behind the attack on the Ibar-Lepenac canal in northern Kosovo, essential to supply water to hundreds of thousands of residents and cool two power plants, while the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Marko Djuric, made it clear that the “regime” of the Kosovar prime minister could be “potentially involved”.
Serbia denies any involvement
Serbian President Aleksandr Vucic, for his part, said that Serbia “unequivocally denies any involvement” in the attack on a crucial channel in Kosovo and denounced “unfounded, irresponsible and worrying allegations”.
Several people were arrested in Kosovo on Saturday after the explosion, and security measures around “critical facilities” were strengthened.
The surroundings of the channel are protected from Friday night by KFOR, the NATO force in Kosovo.
