Analysis

Suspects held over killing of Kosovo Serb politician

Police in Kosovo have arrested two suspects, one a Serb policeman, in connection with the murder in 2018 of Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanović.

The two men were arrested on the morning of October 16 in the town of Mitrovica. Another suspect, also a policeman, is also wanted for arrest, police added.

Mr Ivanović served as the State Secretary of the Ministry for Kosovo from 2008 to 2012 and was also a member of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo from 2001 to 2008. He was shot in a drive-by shooting on January 16, 2018.

The Kosovo authorities arrested four individuals in relation to the case in November 2018. Two of them are still in custody.

Ivanović was widely viewed as a political moderate who advocated coexistence between Kosovo’s Albanian and Serb populations.

He had also become increasingly vocal in his criticism of the Belgrade government.