Author: Dejan Novakovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it is important to emphasize that the model that developed in northern Kosovo was not a classic criminal structure, nor classic state policy, but a hybrid political-security-economic system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the period after the Brussels Agreement (2013), northern Kosovo became a space where Belgrade's political control, the formal institutional jurisdiction of the Kosovo Government, and the local control of criminal groups overlapped, with Milan Radoji\u010di\u0107 and Zvonko Veselinovi\u0107 being the leading figures. US sanctions (2021) specifically target their group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did the model function?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first phase, Radoi\u010di\u0107 became the vice-president of Srpska Lista, which enabled political representation for Serbs in Kosovo and an institutional channel to the Kosovo Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This newly created political structure formally participates in the Kosovo system, but remains under Belgrade's patronage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Radoi\u010di\u0107's group maintained complete control over economic activities in the northern municipalities, as well as over municipal political structures, and ensured the smooth operation of its companies. The key to the system was the construction sector. Companies connected to the network received all tenders. Projects included: roads, sewage, residential buildings, schools and kindergartens, road maintenance, and other public infrastructure. The record-holders in this regard are two companies, \u201cRad\u201d d.o.o. and \u201dRad\u201d P.T.P. from Zve\u010dan, and their owner Radule Stevi\u0107, who, in the 2018-2021 period alone, received a total of 61 tenders worth 5.6 million euros for construction work in all four northern Kosovo municipalities. These are projects financed from the budget of the Government of Kosovo. Stevi\u0107 has been placed on the sanctions list by the US Department of the Treasury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned Milan Radoji\u010di\u0107, Zvonko Veselinovi\u0107 and his brother \u017darko, along with about a dozen other individuals connected to them. In addition to these individuals, about twenty companies linked to them, headquartered in Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia, and Bulgaria, were also placed on the sanctions list. Among them are the construction company \u201cInkop\u201d from \u0106uprija, \u201cBetonjerka\u201d from Aleksinac, \u201cNovi Pazar put\u201c, and others, where the dominant role of the construction sector in the division of the financial pie is clearly visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Department of the Treasury described this model:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201eCompanies provide financial support to political actors from the SNS and help with election campaigns both in Serbia and in Kosovo, and in return they receive infrastructure projects that enable money laundering and legal income. It is a patronage system.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why are infrastructure projects most important to Vu\u010di\u0107?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Large public works enable a stable income. They also represent territorial control (whoever builds, controls the space) and ultimately provide visible legitimacy (citizens see concrete works). Sanctions were imposed because it was assessed that the network uses corruption and engages in the intimidation of blackmailed individuals, influences political processes, and connects crime and politics, thereby ultimately destabilizing the region. In response to social criticism, the Government of Kosovo explained why it provided a \u201clegal framework\u201d and was forced to finance projects in the north associated with structures it considered problematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until the US sanctions in 2021, firms connected to Milan Radoji\u010di\u0107 and Zvonko Veselinovi\u0107 were not on international blacklists, there were no final court judgments against many of them in Kosovo, and the companies met tender requirements and were formally registered. For the Government of Kosovo, this meant that a refusal without legal grounds would be overturned in court. The situation was de iure Pristina's rule, de facto local control, under Belgrade's protection. The Kosovo authorities lacked the capacity to implement decisions without the consent of local actors, and consequently lacked the ability to guarantee the safety of contractors who were not part of the local network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the Brussels Agreement, the strategy of Kosovo's governments was to integrate the north through institutions and budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few companies were willing to operate in the security-risk zone, whether they were Kosovo or international companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the period 2013-2021, that is, until the introduction of sanctions against the actors, the priority of the international community was stability, the implementation of the Brussels Agreement, and the institutional inclusion of Serbs. This indirectly encouraged the approach of \u201ccooperation before confrontation,\u201d which the criminal network, under the protection of Vu\u010di\u0107's regime, made ample use of. After the US sanctions, the hybrid of political and economic control from Belgrade was largely broken, but it did not completely disappear, instead transforming into a more unstable and conflict-prone model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Author: Dejan Novakovi\u0107<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Autor: Dejan Novakovi\u0107 Na po\u010detku je va\u017eno naglasiti da model koji se razvio na severu Kosova, nije bio klasi\u010dna kriminalna struktura, ni klasi\u010dna dr\u017eavna politika, ve\u0107 hibridni politi\u010dko-bezbednosno-ekonomski sistem. U periodu posle Briselskog sporazuma (2013) sever Kosova postaje prostor gde se preklapaju politi\u010dka kontrola Beograda, formalna institucionalna nadle\u017enost Vlade Kosova i lokalna kontrola kriminalnih grupa, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-vesti"],"yoast_head":"\n