Skopje, 25 September 2023 (MIA) – I express my condolences to the family of the deceased police officer, I was also a police officer once, I am aware of the dangers that come with this line of work; however, I know that such actions are not a solution, said Vermont National Guard Adjutant General, Major-General Gregory Knight at a joint press conference with Defense Minister Slavjanka Petrovska on Monday.

In response to a reporter's question regarding the developments in Kosovo, Knight said that it was a serious situation.

"We have been there for 23 years, I can say that there is a solution. We are there to ensure stability so that we can make way for a political solution, however, this is not the way to do it," he said.

Police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed on Sunday in north Kosovo in an attack by an armed group. The country's president Vjosa Osmani declared Sept. 25 a day for mourning.

At another joint press conference with Norway's Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram, Minister Petrovska said that the situation in Kosovo was being closely monitored, considering that Army troops are deployed in the KFOR mission, noting "it is not easy for anyone in the region when an incident occurs, especially when the police of a country is attacked."

Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski also condemned the events, and reiterated that there was no danger regarding the security situation in North Macedonia. According to him, this was someone’s agenda to once again portray the region as one of unrest and disputes between neighbors.

The Kosovo police sergeant Bunjaku was killed and another border officer was wounded in the attack by, according to the Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs, around 30 masked and uniformed assailants, carrying heavy weapons, in the village of Banjska, Leposavikj, in north Kosovo.

Following the response of Kosovo special police, the country's Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed on Monday that they found the body of another suspected attacker in the north, bringing the number of assailants killed to four.

Kosovo authorities, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, President Osmani, Minister of Interior Xhelal Sveçla and others, pointed directly to Belgrade and Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, as "orderer, inspirator, organizer and executor" of the attack, whose goal, according to Pristina, was to destabilize Kosovo. ssh/mr