Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has called on Serbia to hand over Milan Radoičić, the former vice-president of the largest political party representing Kosovo Serbs, who claimed responsibility for last year’s terrorist attack in Banjska, northern Kosovo. Kurti has made this demand a condition for resuming dialogue with Belgrade, reports MIA’s correspondent from Pristina.

In an interview with BNN Bloomberg (bnnbloomberg.ca), covered by Kosovo media, Kurti also urged the European Union to exert more pressure on Belgrade to reduce tensions and push forward an agreement to normalize relations.

“This should have happened yesterday. I believe it is possible,” Kurti stated.

The Kosovo prime minister dismissed international criticism of his government’s treatment of the Serb minority as exaggerated.

“They are too worried. Every time we take action, there are alarming voices about possible escalation, but here we are—Kosovo is better than ever,” Kurti said.

Pristina’s actions, including shutting down Serbian-backed institutions and banning the use of the Serbian dinar in Serb-majority areas of northern Kosovo, have drawn warnings from both the United States and the European Union, which fear that these moves could threaten the Balkans’ fragile peace.

These measures, which also include closing branches of Serbian banks in the area, followed last year’s shootout near an Orthodox monastery in Banjska. The incident resulted in the deaths of a Kosovo policeman and three Serb militants, making it the bloodiest conflict in the region in nearly two decades, BNN Bloomberg reports.

Kurti defended these actions, asserting that they are necessary to restore law and order in the long-divided north and to fully integrate Serb-majority areas into Kosovo’s legal and financial systems.

“My impression is that, precisely because we are successful, Belgrade is becoming increasingly nervous and, as a result, more aggressive,” Kurti remarked.