VIENNA, May 31. /TASS/. Russia expects the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to react to the Kosovo incident with UN employees, Russia's Permanent Representative to OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.
"Pristina's provocation, in which special forces intruded into northern municipalieis of Kosovo and Metohija mostly populated by Serbs on May 28, should be unequivocally condemned. We expect an appropriate reaction to these developments from the current OSCE chairmanship and relevant bodies of the organization," Lukashevich told the session of the OSCE Permanent Council.
The diplomat said that such behavior by Kosovars is a direct result of many years of US and EU condoning their actions. He added that Kosovar leaders have gotten used to getting away with provocations.
Lukashevich reminded the OSCE Permanent Council that during the Kosovar operation in northern municipalities of Kosovo and Metohija, Russian national who works for the United Nations Organization Mikhail Krasnoschekov "was brutally beaten and arrested."
"The attackers were not stopped even by the fact that the Russian naitonal had diplomatic immunity. What is this if not Pristina's complete disregard for international law? Or is caring about the law only a veil for provocations by the Kosovar-Albanian leaders? Will those guilty of attacking a UN employee bear due responsibility for their actions? We will closely follow the investigation into the incident, and we will not let it slide," Lukashevich said.
On the morning of May 28, the special forces of unrecognized Kosovo intruded into the northern municipalities of Kosovo and Metohija, the gunfire resulted in two Serbs receiving light injuries. The operation was conducted in violation of the existing agreements between Belgrade and Pristina. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the Kosovar police special forces detained 28 people, including two UN employees, particularly, Russian national Mikhail Krasnoschekov. On Wednesday, the Serbian Vecernje Novosti newspaper reported that more than 100 people suffered at the hands of Kosovo’s special police.
Kosovo's leaders said that the Russian diplomat "hampered a special operation by the police." On Wednesday, Kosovo's prosecutor's office said it plans to demand lifting the Russian diplomat's immunity and opening a criminal case against him.
On Thursday, Krasnoschekov was taken to the Military-Medical Academy in Belgrade for treatment.