January 16 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government said on Tuesday it requested the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the EU's Rule of Law mission, EULEX, to allow the Serbian authorities to take part in the investigation of the murder of leading Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic.
Ivanovic, the leader of civic initiative Serbia, Democracy, Justice (SDP), was shot dead in Kosovska Mitrovica on Tuesday morning.
Following the murder, the Serbian government said that it withdrew its delegation from the new round of talks for normalisation of relations with Kosovo in Brussels. The murder aims to destabilise the situation in Kosovo and it is an attack on the entire Serbian nation, the director of the Serbian government office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, said in a statement.
Serbia considers the murder to be a terrorist act and will treat it as such, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said during a news conference, a video file of which was posted on the website of news agency Tanjug.
"It is hard to negotiate something when you have threats every day. There is a true lord of Kosovo, and it is not Thaci, nor Haradinaj, but Kadri Veseli," Vucic said.
Former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrilla leader Kadri Veseli is leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) that is part of the current governing coalition in Kosovo. Veseli is also Kosovo parliament speaker.
"We know that in recent days the Serbs were threatened with a war by Veseli and other Albanians," Marko Djuric said in a separate video file posted on the website of Tanjug.
In Pristina, Kosovo leaders denounced the assassination of Oliver Ivanovic.
Kosovo president Hashim Thaci called on law enforcement authorities to throw light on the circumstances of the assassination as soon as possible so that the perpetrators are brought to justice, according to a press release issued by the president’s office.
The Kosovo government said in a separate statement that the murder challenges the rule of law and attempts to establish order throughout the territory of Kosovo.
The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, strongly condemned the murder of Ivanovic and called on all sides to show calm and restraint and allow the rule of law and justice to take its course, the EU office in Kosovo said in a press release.
In phone conversations with the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo, Mogherini underlined the expectation that the relevant Kosovo authorities will spare no effort to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice without delay, adding that EULEX will support the authorities in accordance with its mandate.
The special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK, Zahir Tanin, also strongly condemned the murder. Tanin said in a separate statement he believes the investigative authorities will work swiftly and effectively and added that all international agencies on the ground are ready to support the authorities in any manner to help swiftly detain those responsible for the crime.
On Monday, Serbia's government said it will resume its talks for normalisation of relations with Kosovo this week after a suspension that had lasted for more than a year. According to Tanjug, the talks were to focus on the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo, which should define some type of autonomy for the Serb minority.
Belgrade does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, its former province predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians. Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008 and has so far been recognised by 108 of the 193 UN members states.