Prominent Kosovo Serb politician assassinated

Leading Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic was killed on Tuesday in a drive-by shooting as he arrived at his party headquarters, his lawyer and a party official said.

The killing occurred on the very day that Belgrade and Pristina had started talks on normalising ties after a break of more than a year.

Ivanovic, who was set to face a retrial on charges of war crimes over the Kosovo conflict after an earlier conviction was thrown out, had been hit by five bullets.

Ivanovic, 64, of the Social Democratic Party, was considered a moderate politician in the ethnically divided flashpoint town of Mitrovica.

A former Serbian state secretary for Kosovo, Ivanovic was a key interlocutor with NATO, the United Nations and later the European U

Prominent Kosovo Serb politician assassinated

Lots of potential for this to set the Balkan on fire - again. And together with other conflicts we may be looking at "the big one".

I read this one of two hours ago and my first thought was, for sure....
False Flag, Agents Provocateurs.
That was my feeling.

But my feeling doesn´t say who did it in reality.
Too many players on the field that play with dirty tricks. My father came from Ex-Yugoslavia, Kosovo.
And that damned war that destroyed Yugoslavia was initiated by some foreign players, for example.
Because of that "U"SA/NATO vs Russia thing, which becomes renewed now, the cold war get´s a bit hotter again.

So i have an idea who could have been playing a dirty move to add fuel to another fire on earth. And makes it maybe look, for the Kosovars, as if the serbs had done it it. And for the serbs they make it look as if the Kosovars had done it...

a reply to: MindBodySpiritComplex

It's too bad. He was a "moderate," who, although stained by certain war crime allegations, was willing to reach a compromise (at least he said so).

It's sad. Kosovo is beautiful. Was there with KFOR and it's a shame such a beautiful place with such warm people is still going through this.

What can you expect from the Albanian cartels running Kosovo?

Oliver's car was previously burned up, so I think something like this was to be expected. But my brave countryman decided to stay there and try to help Serbs.

Let's see if the killers will be caught. But, let's be clear here. They were professionals. They even destroyed their car, so they don't leave many clues. They only need to pass a bridge to be on safety, and I think they managed that. They will be protected by their OVK buddies

But let's wait and see, although my hopes are not high

a reply to: DerBeobachter

Yeah, I was thinking either Russia or somebody that wants it to look like Russia could be behind it. "O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive! "

Guys, you need to understand something first.

Today was supposed to be the first day of talks between Serbia and Kosovo in Brussels after a break. Also, the government of Kosovo was trying to put a stop to a forming of a special court for the crimes committed by OVK, who has many members in the government.

This might have been a way to delay the court and the talks as well. And it's a very likely possibility in my opinion

originally posted by: Nikola014
Guys, you need to understand something first.

Today was supposed to be the first day of talks between Serbia and Kosovo in Brussels after a break. Also, the government of Kosovo was trying to put a stop to a forming of a special court for the crimes committed by OVK, who has many members in the government.

This might have been a way to delay the court and the talks as well. And it's a very likely possibility in my opinion

Most definitely.

And it was a message.

a reply to: Nikola014

Just a quick point here Nikola014...

The fact that they burned the car does not suggest, in and of itself, a professional hit. Joyriders in my country, lads out for a laugh, stealing cars and driving them like the devil was chasing them, regularly burn out cars to prevent their fingerprints and DNA being recovered from the vehicle, which decreases the likelihood of their identity being discovered, or a conviction being secured against them.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Could be, but they also used a silencer, which makes me suspect that they weren't some amateurs. It takes a lot of planning to organize something like this, and get away fast, which they managed to do. All these things lead me to believe that they had training.

Serbian president is making an announcement right now. I will post updates when it's over

There are several factions in Serbia - backed by the Russians - that will undertake any course of action to shut off negotiations with Kosovo and block the efforts of moderate Serbs to join the EU.

No surprise here. They killed Zoran Dindic a few years ago.

a reply to: Nikola014

Hmmm... the use of a suppressor itself, again, does not indicate much, since if you can get hold of a gun, you probably know someone who can score a suppressor from somewhere (and to be honest, they are not hard to design or build, especially for one time use), but in context, it does appear to have been a smooth hit.

So, the president said this was a terrorist attack. He used this situation to deal with the opposition in Serbia, for claiming that somehow, the government of Serbia had organized the assassination. Next, he said he hopes that Kosovo institutions will be able to arrest the attackers, but he doubts they will do so. He said Serbia is going to conduct an independent investigation, and that if Kosovo or international community fails to arrest the perpetrators, Serbia will arrest them for sure.
He indirectly said that no one will be able to hide the killer(s), neither Albania, Kosovo nor the international community.

He indirectly connected this murder with the attempt of Kosovo government to stop the forming of a special court for war crimes, which I suspect as well.

originally posted by: Nikola014

...He indirectly connected this murder with the attempt of Kosovo government to stop the forming of a special court for war crimes, which I suspect as well.

Yup. And herein lies the modus operandi for this killing. His original war crimes conviction was tossed and they were set to revisit the charges. That would spell some not insignificant trouble for Serbs, mostly, but also the Albanian Kosovars. Neither side was pure as the driven snow.

He also was a "moderate" willing to reach a compromise between ethnic Serbs and Albanian Kosovars.

That was probably enough by itself to get him offed, but the two together made it a virtual certainty.

My money is on Serbian or Albanian (or both) criminal underground.
Kosovo is an important drug route to western Europe and this fellow was a thorn in the eye for both sides
Serbian president will try to milk this one for cheap political points, as usual.
Never let a tragedy go to waste
The man who was assassinated today once told the media that he feared more serbian drug lords and criminals than Albanian nationalists

originally posted by: ErrorErrorError
My money is on Serbian or Albanian (or both) criminal underground.
Kosovo is an important drug route to western Europe and this fellow was a thorn in the eye for both sides
Serbian president will try to milk this one for cheap political points, as usual.
Never let a tragedy go to waste
The man who was assassinated today once told the media that he feared more serbian drug lords and criminals than Albanian nationalists

True. And something I hadn't considered due to his political/societal views...

FYRoM has some of the highest potency poppies in the world. Don't ask me how I know, but you're correct that trafficking from former Yugoslav republics and the Balkans in general to Europe proper is an issue.

NM

Contrary to misunderstanding, Kosovo does not have white card to go ahead from the US to do what they want !