Kosovo’s Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned the arrest of a Kosovo Albanian by Serbian police at a border crossing point with Croatia on Thursday.

Mitehat Llozhani, a Kosovo Albanian, was apprehended while entering Serbian territory at the Batrovci crossing point. Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Thursday that the Serbian police and the Intelligence Security Agency, BIA, arrested Llozhani on suspicion of war crimes against civilians during Kosovo’s 1998-99 war.

“He is suspected of having first undergone selective training as a member of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army – Operational Zone Dukagjin during 1998 and 1999, and then participating in terrorist attacks targeting members of the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Serbia and the Army of Yugoslavia,” Dacic said in a press release.

“As a member of that group, commanded by [KLA commander] Ramush Haradinaj, he participated in the kidnapping and massacre of police officers,” Dacic added.

On Friday, Kosovo’s Foreign Ministry said that it had demanded that Serbia’s Liaison Office in Pristina explain the reasons for the arrest.

The ministry said it had also informed the European Delegation in Serbia and had sent verbal notes to the embassies in Belgrade of the so-called Quint countries – Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and United States – “in order to ensure international partners’ engagement in protection of rights and security of Kosovo citizen.

“The MFA calls on the international community to increase pressure on Serbia’s authorities, which are continuing the practice of mistreatment and arrest of citizens of the Republic of Kosovo by violating international human rights norms and standards,” it said.

The arrest of Kosovo citizens suspected of being former members of the KLA guerrilla force has long been an irritant in Kosovo-Serbia relations. In December 2024, a Belgrade court sentenced Kosovo citizen Nezir Mehmetaj to six years in prison for war crimes. Mehmetaj was released in October last year after serving more than four years of his jail term.

Hasan Dakaj, another ex-KLA member, was released in January 2025 after being held for almost a year on war crimes suspicions.